Naruto: The hero always arrives late
by Chikyuukage
Summary: Naruto isn't the 'dead-last' he seems, he hid his true power and potential from the academy that didn't respect him. Now that Naruto has graduated, will he finally let his mask fall. Strong Naruto. Serious Naruto. NaruHina in later chapters. Rated T just in case.
1. Chapter 1

Naruto: The hero always arrives late.

This is my first ever fanfiction so sorry if it not up to your standards. This fanfiction will mostly follow major cannon events but with my twist on them. Please read and review. Hope everybody enjoys this.

I don't own Naruto only whatever OCs' I decide to put in this.

Chapter 1: the start of the rise of Uzumaki Naruto

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(6 years after kyuubi attack)

(Sunset)

A six year old blond boy was roaming the back alleyways of Konohagakure no Sato, the village hidden in the leaves. "Stupid orphanage, kicking me out for no reason!" said the boy.

Uzumaki Naruto was orphan who had never known his parents and had been living in an orphanage up until recently. During his time at the orphanage Naruto had been poorly treated, his room was in the most run down part of the building, he was served the worst quality of food (which was only just about enough to keep him alive) and was even abused by some of the caretakers even when he slightly misbehaved; even for something as pitiful dropping his food on the floor.

What Naruto didn't realise though, was that he was the only child treated this way there. A very big secret about Naruto was kept from him and every person his age or younger that would change his entire view on life. Unlike the story that was told to cover up Naruto's secret which stated that the fourth Hokage killed the strongest of Bijuu the Kyuubi no Kitsune when it attacked Konoha, the Bijuu was actually sealed into new born child. That child was none other than Uzumaki Naruto, making him the secret Jinchuuriki of the strongest demon none to man kind, the Kyuubi no Kitsune.

'Grooagh', Naruto put his hand over his grumbling stomach, "Dammit, I'm getting really hungry now; I need to find something to eat." Naruto told himself. As soon as the thought left Naruto's mind he stumbled and knocked over a trash can, making himself fall to the floor at the same time. As Naruto opened his eyes after his fall, he found a can of some kind of tinned food right in front of hid eyes. Without a care in the world, Naruto hurriedly opened the can and deposited the contents into his mouth. "Uch! That was really bad." complained Naruto.

As Naruto started to dust himself off from the fall, he caught a glimpse of something in the contents of the trash can that he had knocked over. As Naruto went over to inspect it, he was disappointed to realise that it was a book. Naruto was about to leave the book when he read the title of said book, "How to start off your shinobi career, by Hiruzen Sarutobi, hmm this could be really useful if I want to be a ninja" said Naruto. The book was filled all sort of tips and information, from most appropriate clothing to how to unlock your chakra.

Quickly forgetting about his hunger, Naruto ran towards one of the nearest parks so he could read his book under one of the lamps that were there. Naruto was unbelievably excited to start his training to be a ninja. What Naruto didn't know was that his decision not to leave the book could be one that will save the world in the future.

* * *

(3 hours later)

Naruto had been reading the book he found for over three hours and was only on the third chapter. He had been struggling to read the book, due to the fact that he hadn't had the best of education during his years at the orphanage because the workers there feared that Naruto was the reincarnation of the kyuubi and didn't want _it _to become to intelligent.

Naruto had learnt a lot in the last three hours. Naruto learnt how an improper diet can affect a person's growth; this was something Naruto paid close attention to because there was no way he would grow up as a midget. He had set up a small physical training schedule with the help of the book to increase his speed, strength and stamina.

Right now Naruto was reaching the part of the book which explained how to unlock one's chakra. "So the book says I'm meant to try and meditate, feel a small flame near my stomach and imagine igniting it until I feel it a warm sensation running through my entire body, simple right?" thought Naruto. He immediately got into the lotus position just like the book described, he cleared his mind and found the flame at his core. He found it weird that he was able to find the flame so easily, but he carried on anyway. He imagined every form of expanding the flame, adding fuel to it, adding more air to it even giving it more heat yet he never felt the warmth that the book described.

"Aww, I couldn't do it. I know, I'll go see jiji tomorrow, he'll tell me what I'm doing wrong." Said Naruto, once again only to himself. He decided to give in for the night, and so he settled on the park bench and fell asleep.

* * *

(Next day, Hokage's Tower)

It was fairly early in the morning and the sun could be seen just rising over the famous Hokage monument. Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage of Konohagakure could be found sitting behind his desk in the Hokage tower, awaiting the arrival of his dreaded enemy. No not another Kage, an infamous missing-nin or even the council of Konoha, no his enemy is the one thing all Kage fear … paperwork.

As Hiruzen was about to light his pipe he heard a knocking on the door. "So the time has come for us to meat once again has it?" Hiruzen said to himself. "Enter." He commanded.

To Hiruzen's surprise, it wasn't his assistant that walked in whilst carrying a stack of paperwork, no the new occupant of the room was one Uzumaki Naruto. The young boy in front of him had become somewhat of a grandson figure in his life. "Naruto-kun what brings you hear so early, I didn't know the orphanage let children out at this time?" wondered the Sandaime.

Naruto moved forward from the door and sat in one of the chairs in front of the Hokage's desk. "Hey jiji! They don't, but I don't live there anymore, they kicked me out." said Naruto.

"What! When did this happen and why?" asked the aged Hokage.

"Yesterday, they said I was causing too much trouble and that it was too expansive to keep me there." answered Naruto sounding slightly dejected.

The aged Hokage moved from behind his desk and kneeled in front of the young Uzumaki. "Well don't worry Naruto-kun, I'll find a new place for you to live as soon as possible, and until then you can stay with me." Hiruzen offered.

"Wow, you'd really do that for me? Thanks jiji, but there's actually another reason why I came to see you." Said Naruto

"Oh, and what might that be?" He asked while standing up and going back behind his desk.

Naruto showed his new book to his grandfather figure, "Well I found this book in one of the trash cans I accidentally knocked over last night."

Sarutobi Hiruzen instantly recognised the book as one of his own creations. The Sarutobi head face planted his desk and muttered something about 'not appreciating good literature'. "Uh jiji, are you ok?" asked a worried Naruto.

"Ah yes thank you Naruto-kun. So what was it you wanted to say?"

"Well, I reached the part the part in the book where it talked about unlocking your chakra. Well I tried it, I found the flame easily, but when I tried to make it grow, nothing happened. I mean the flame grew but I didn't feel the warmth like the book said I would." explained Naruto.

'Hmmm, I wonder' thought Hiruzen. The Hokage snapped his fingers and an ANBU wearing a boar mask appeared in front of him. "Please go warn Hyuuga Hiashi that I will be visiting him shortly and that I have a favour to ask him, dismissed." As soon as he finished the ANBU disappeared from view. Hiruzen then turned his attention back to the young Uzumaki in front of him. "Naruto-kun, would you mind accompanying me? I need to check something with you." asked Hiruzen.

"Sure jiji. So, where are we headed?" asked Naruto as he stood up and headed towards the door.

"The Hyuuga clan compound." stated the Hokage as he followed Naruto.

* * *

(The Hyuuga clan compound)

The stern figure of Hyuuga Hiashi could be found in his office in the main house of the Hyuuga clan compound going over the running paperwork of the Hyuuga clan. Without warning, Hiashi jumped out of his seat and jabbed forward with a chakra laced hand and his famous dojutsu the Byakugan activated. His motion was soon stopped though when the newly appeared ANBU grabbed his hand by the wrist. "I apologise if I startled you Hyuuga-san" The boar mask ANBU said without any emotion in his voice.

"I apologise for attacking you boar-san, but I thought you were an attacker or assassin of some sorts." Said the Hyuuga clan head.

"Understandable." replied the ANBU, "Sandaime-sama has sent me to inform you that he is on is way here and has a favour to ask of you; I don't have any information on this favour in-case you were wondering." The ANBU explained and then disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

Hyuuga Hiashi once again took his place behind his desk. Five minutes later the door slid open to reveal two figures, both of whom he knew very well. The first was that of the elderly Sandaime Hokage, Sarutobi Hiruzen. The second figure was the Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, Uzumaki Naruto. "Ah Sandaime-sama, welcome to the Hyuuga compound once again, your ANBU informed me that you were on your way over, something about a favour you wanted to ask me?" Hiashi said in his Hyuuga stern manor.

"Yes I do Hiashi-san, it concerns young Naruto here." said Hiruzen. The Hokage then went on to describe Naruto's situation about unlocking his chakra, and his troubles with it. "I have a theory that I would like your help in confirming it." explained Hiruzen.

"May I ask what this theory is Hokage-sama" asked Hiashi, surprisingly finding himself interested.

"Yes, I think that somehow Naruto's chakra has already been unlocked and that is why he doesn't feel the warm sensation running through his body like what would usually happen." Hiruzen explained further.

"And you would like my help in confirming this theory with the use of my Byakugan." concluded Hiashi.

"Precisely." The Hokage answered.

"Very well, I will help you." said Hiashi. Turning to Naruto Hiashi continued, "Could you please move towards that wall over there and then stay very still until I say so?"

"Sure!" Naruto happily answered. He moved towards the mentioned wall, turned around to face Hiashi and stayed very still. Hiashi took position in front of the young blond, put his hands in the ram seal and whispered "Byakugan.". The veins around the Hyuuga clan head's eyes swelled to a point where it was very noticeable and his pale pupil-less eyes bulged. After around thirty seconds of staring, Hiashi deactivated his Byakugan and turned to face the Sandaime. "It seems that your theory is correct Hokage-sama. The boy does have chakra running through his coils, which are very well developed. If I had to give an estimate, I would say his chakra has been active for six years, which means his chakra has been active since his day of birth." Hiashi explained.

"Thank you very much for your cooperation Hiashi-san. It was most appreciated." Hiruzen stated.

"Yeah, thanks weird guy." Naruto innocently stated.

"Naruto, please refer to Hiashi-san with more respect. Your informal way of speaking could get you into trouble in the future." Hiruzen said, slightly sternly.

Naruto nodded and turned towards Hiashi, "I apologise for my rude way of speaking Hyuuga-san" Naruto said whilst bowing slightly, surprising Hiruzen with his respectful way of speaking.

"Apology accepted. By the way Hokage-sama, there is one other thing I must inform you about. Young Uzumaki-san's chakra reserves are unusually high, it's very hard to give an estimate but at the very least he's high genin at the moment." Hiashi explained.

"I see, well thank you once again, Hiashi-san." said Hiruzen.

"Yes, thank you very much Hyuuga-san." said Naruto.

(gap line)

(Along the streets of Konoha)

After leaving the Hyuuga compound, Naruto and Hiruzen started on their way back towards the Hokage tower. "So jiji, what did the weird guy mean about chakra coils and all that?" asked a curious Naruto.

"Well Naruto-kun, chakra coils is a system, much like your blood veins, that carry your chakra around your body. It has a very complicated structure, and impossible for the normal eye to see." explained Hiruzen.

"So how could that weird guy tell that mine were 'very well developed' and what does that even mean?" whined Naruto.

"The Hyuuga clan's eyes are very special; they have a dojutsu which allows them to see chakra, chakra coils and even the points where the body releases chakra. As for the well developed coils, when somebody first unlocks their chakra, their coils are very fragile, too much strain and they could be damaged beyond repair but too little use could leave them very weak. You are in a very unique situation Naruto-kun, for some reason your chakra has always been unlocked, which means that your coils have been developing for 6 years which makes them very strong." the Hokage cleared out for the young boy. Naruto just nodded along. "Naruto, you now have amazing potential as a shinobi, in two years you will be able to enrol at the shinobi academy if you want, and there you will be able to learn how to be a true shinobi of Konoha. Until then I suggest you follow the advice from my book, and feel free to come to me if you have any problems. Though, you must remember that I can not show any favouritism towards you, but I will try to help you in any way I am allowed." finished Hiruzen.

Naruto looked up at the grandfather figure in his life almost at the verge of tears. "Thanks jiji, nobody has ever said such nice things to me, thank you." He told the Sandaime.

"Now now Naruto, don't cry, come on lets go get some food, how about we visit Ichiraku's?" asked Hiruzen, a smile on his face as he watched the young boy's eyes turn into steaming bowls of ramen.

"Yeah, come on jiji, lets go, RAMEN!" answered the young blond, noticeably excited. Hiruzen just watched Naruto as he started making his way towards the ramen stand, followed by a dust cloud. 'Yes Naruto, I can see that you are destined for greatness, even more than your father'.

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Thank you for reading. Hope you all enjoyed it. Please R&R.


	2. Chapter 2

**Uzumaki Nawawi: my idea with the title is, when Naruto saves Inari in wave, he says the hero is usually last to the fight, the title is meant to foreshadow that Naruto isn't what everybody thinks he is, so when he shows his true power and potential, it's as if the hero is arriving late to the fight. **

**Thanks so much to everybody that reviewed. Keep R&R.**

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Chapter 2: Graduation exam part 1

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(6 years later)

The day started like every other day in Konoha. A warm breeze in the air as the sun rose over the Hokage monument, painting it in a brilliant orange colour. Some civilians could be seen opening up stores or delivering stock, but the majority of the populace was still asleep. One person who wasn't asleep though was a young blonde hair shinobi in training who goes by the name, Uzumaki Naruto.

Naruto had been in the academy for 4 years now; he had already failed the graduation test twice, was the 'dead-last' of his class and was never supported in anything by either teachers or friends. To anybody that looked at his school record he looked like a total failure. What no body knew was that Naruto was the total opposite of all those things; he was by far from being a failure. Ever since his first day at the academy, when he was ridiculed by his teacher in front of his new classmates, Naruto had decided to hide his true strength and potential from any teacher/sensei that wouldn't show him respect or give him a chance to prove himself.

Over the last 4 years, he hid behind a mask of his own creation where he acted exuberant, brash and inattentive. He made it seem as if he was totally talent-less by purposely failing every single test, including his first two graduation tests. Naruto was none of these things though; in truth he had more potential than the village's 'precious Uchiha', and it continued to grow with every passing day.

Every morning, before sunrise, Naruto could be found at an abandoned shinobi training ground, formerly known as training ground 68. It was a small clearing in the middle of a woodland area; it had a small stream running along one edge, five extremely worn down training posts and a small, seemingly harmless cave. What people didn't know was that this cave held the key to Naruto's success. Within the cave were various hidden passage ways, one of which led to the room where Naruto currently was. It was a fairly large circular room; around 20 foot in diameter. It was dimly lit by a large number of candles, which stood in front of mirrors that reflected the light across the room. The walls were lined with well crafted, but obviously hand made shelves. The shelves were stacked with countless number of scrolls, kunai, shuriken and various other shinobi artefacts. Ever since the night were Naruto found the 'How to start off your shinobi career' book, he had taken time out of every day to search trash cans from various locations in Konoha to try to find anything that could be considered of use to the young Jinchuuriki. The things one could find was absolutely mind-blowing: ninjutsu, genjutsu and taijutsu scrolls, a whole range of shinobi weaponry, ranging from the standard kunai to Bukijutsu (weapon techniques) scrolls, hiden (clan techniques) or kekkei genkai scrolls in the clan districts and sometimes fuinjutsu scrolls.

Over the past 6 years, Naruto had spent whatever time he had that wasn't spent in the academy, sleeping or searching the trash for more items of worth, learning whatever he could from the scrolls and practising. Obviously he couldn't learn any of the kekkei genkai techniques, but he could learn about them in case he fought someone with the ability to use them.

Naruto was sat in the middle of the room going over his morning collections. He had a surprisingly good haul today. He found a scroll for **Katon: Hosenka no Jutsu **(Fire release: Phoenix sage fire technique) a C-rank fire technique, **Katon: Ryuka no Jutsu** (Fire release: Dragon fire technique) another C-rank fire technique**, Futon: Atsugai** (Wind release: Pressure damage) a B-Rank wind technique, 30 still useable kunai, 40 shuriken, a reparable combat staff, a **Bojutsu: Tsuga Endan** (Staff technique: Piercing Fang Bullet) a B-Rank Staff technique and a fuinjutsu scroll on restriction seals. "Hmm, good haul today, it's been a long time since I found anything to do with fuinjutsu" said Naruto. He stood up and carried all the items to their new respected home, Naruto the catalogued where everything was and whether or not he had learnt it yet. After finishing, Naruto noticed he had and hour and a half until the academy started, which would leave him with an hour left to play with. At that very moment his stomach grumbled, so he decided to go shopping for some food.

As Naruto made his way out of the cave, he realised he hadn't activated his daily **henge**. Naruto stood there at a slightly taller than average 5 foot 3 inches, he wore a standard mesh armour shirt under a short sleeved dark orange trench coat with black flames at the bottom, black forearm protectors, ANBU style pants and black shinobi boots. This was not how he looked in public though, he activated his henge and transformed in a poof of smoke. Now standing were Naruto was, was a blonde haired boy, around 4 foot 10 inches height, wearing a 'kill me' orange and blue jumpsuit and blue shinobi sandals. This image is what Naruto used daily to help hide his true potential and power. The short height made him look ridiculously weak, and doesn't have a proper diet due to a ramen obsession. The jumpsuit made him look as if he was an attention seeker with no regard to a shinobi's key aspect, stealth.

This henge though was no ordinary henge. The standard henge is more of a genjutsu rather than ninjutsu, the user covers them-selves with a cloak of chakra which refracts the light changing one's appearance. Naruto's henge was different though since it was one of his creations, this henge was a true transformation, changing the user's mass, shape and even density into that of the person's or object, which means it isn't detectable as easily as the standard henge. He was able to fool high level shinobi with his new henge, as appose to only low level shinobi and civilians with the standard henge. He called it **Shin henge**.

Naruto also used henge for another reason than to downplay his strength. The other reason Naruto used henge was to fool the shopkeepers of Konoha. For some reason, the village seemed to hate him; shopkeepers would either refuse to serve him or would charge him triple the price for a third of the quality. But his use of the henge would allow him to disguise himself to be able to get normal rates for his food and supplies. His **Shin henge **would make sure that any shinobi run establishments, or shinobi in whatever store he visited wouldn't find him out.

And so with his hour planned out, Naruto set off towards the market sector.

* * *

(1 hour later)

Naruto's visit to the market sector had gone off without any trouble; his by now expert use of the **Shin henge **allowed him to get not only food for the week, but also, whatever shinobi supplies he didn't have in his hideout but needed for the graduation exam. Yes that's right, today was the day of Naruto's third attempt at the academy graduation exam, and this time, Naruto wasn't going to fail on purpose, this time Naruto would blow their minds.

Naruto was about 5 minutes away from the shinobi academy, and there was 20 minutes before the day and exam started. He reached the academy and headed towards the classroom of Umino Iruka. Iruka was the only teacher in the academy to ever attempt to improve Naruto and help him, all of the other had out right tried to sabotage his career. This was the reason he decided to try and pass this year, for Iruka's career as a teacher, the person who turned a hopeless and talent-less 'dead-last' into the Hokage. It would be Naruto's way of saying thank you.

After waiting for 10 minutes, it was time for the exams to start. The door to the classroom swung open, and in walked Umino Iruka followed closely by Mizuki. Mizuki was Iruka's assistant for the year, and like the majority of Konoha's population, he hated Naruto's guts. Naruto caught the glare sent his way from Mizuki. Naruto just returned the glare while leaking slight killing intent, only noticeable to Chuunin with it. Iruka stood up in front of the whole class. He quickly gave a nervous glance towards Naruto's direction, but what he saw surprised him. Naruto winked at him. 'Did Naruto just wink at me? Why? Does have that much confidence that he will pass? What are you up to Naruto?' thought Iruka. "Alright everyone listen up." Iruka told the class with some authority. "Now this is how the exams will work, first off you'll be taken outside, there you will demonstrate your ability in kunai and shuriken throwing; the test will be described in more detail once we're outside. Next you will demonstrate your ability in taijutsu; once again the test will be described in more detail when the time comes. After that we will test your ability in dispelling a genjutsu. After we're finished there, we'll head back inside where you will take a written examination. Finally we will test your ninjutsu and we'll be able to make a decision whether or not you graduate." explained Iruka. He waited to see if there were any questions. "Alright, let's head outside and get started shall we?" asked Iruka in a suggestive voice which was answered by a roar of excitement from the students.

* * *

The class was now standing outside, all facing Iruka and Mizuki. "Mizuki-san, why don't I explain this one, you can explain the taijutsu since you're the one that taught them." offered the scarred Chuunin.

"Good idea Iruka-san"

Iruka turned to face his students once again. "Alright, this is how the test will work. All of you will come up here one by one, you will through 5 kunai and 5 shuriken. There are 5 stumps, so 1 kunai and 1 shuriken for each stump. As you can see there are targets on the stumps, hit the outer white ring gets you 1 point, the blue middle ring gets you 2 points and the bull's eye gets you 3. We will mark down your score out of the possible maximum of 30. Does anybody have any questions?" asked Iruka. "Alright, first up is Akimichi Choji." announced Naruto.

Naruto didn't pay any attention to how the others did except for a select few. Naruto went over towards the tree in the yard and took a seat in the shade under the tree. He sat in the lotus position and started to feel out his chakra, he moved it around his body, speeding it up and slowing it down, directing and re-directing the flow.

He was brought out of his musings however when he heard a name he'd been waiting for, "Hyuuga Hinata.", he stood up and walked over to Hinata. He raised his hand, and put it on her shoulder, leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "Good luck Hinata, I know you can do it". Hinata's face had gone bright red with blush and was about to thank Naruto when the screeching voice of a certain pink haired girl. "Naruto-baka, what did you do to Hinata-san. If you've said anything perverted I'll kill you." stated Sakrua. Naruto turned to face Sakura. "Three things I would like to say Sakura-_san." _The emphasis on the _san _honorific was clear for everybody. "First," he said while raising his right index finger, "I was only offering my support to Hinata-_chan_" once again the emphasis was clear "and saying that I believed she could do it. Secondly," he raised his middle finger, "I'm a growing boy, going through puberty and my hormones are racing. If I had said anything perverted, it should be totally normal, no need for death threats. Finally," he raised his ring finger, "if you're trying to get your '_Sasuke-kun' _with that voice of yours, it's defiantly working since it's causing everybody else's eardrums to burst. Next time do us all a favour; ask me quietly and in a civilised manor, not by showing off the volume of your lungs." Naruto finished and walked away. Everybody present was shacked into silence by the way Naruto had spoken to Sakura, well when I say everyone, one emo-brooder stayed emotionless.

Hinata had ended up with an impressive score of 27, 7 bull's eyes and 3 blue. Naruto congratulated Hinata, to which Hinata stuttered a "Thank you". Naruto then went back to his musings until the name of Uchiha Sasuke was announced, which meant Naruto was next afterward. The smug Uchiha got up and threw the same score as Hinata, 27, 8 bull's eyes 2 blue and 1 red, much to his disappointment at tieing with a Hyuuga.

"Uzumaki Naruto." announced Iruka. Naruto stood up and walked over towards the five stumps. He reached into his holster and retrieved the required amount of Kunai and shuriken. It was total silence, all eyes were on him. In a blur of orange, Naruto flicked out the kunai and shuriken in quick succession. 10 loud thuds rang across the small yard, when everybody turned their attention towards the stumps, to say they were shacked was an understatement. 10 bull's eyes. Nobody dared talk, only some pupils trying to dispel some form of genjutsu that didn't exist. When the silence was broken, everybody was shacked to see who; it was Hinata congratulating Naruto on his performance.

After the end of the first test, the current 'rookie of the year' was Naruto, followed by both Sasuke and Hinata in second.

The instructor quickly moved on to the next test, taijutsu. Mizuki stood in front of everybody and announced the exam. "Each of you will be set up with a sparring partner at total random through this electronic board. When two names are called, you will take your places at the middle of the sparring circle and wait until we ask you to start. Iruka-san and I will judge you on your taijutsu, so even if you loose, you can still get a good score. The winner of the spar will be either the last one in the circle or the last one able to continue. Remember this is a taijutsu spar, you are allowed to use any taijutsu you know as long as they aren't crippling or life threatening. Does anybody have any questions? Good, now the first two are … Hyuuga Hinata vs Kagayaki Sutaa." announced Mizuki. The fight was totally one-sided; Hinata won and got once again an impressive score of 28 out of 30.

Sasuke faced Nara Shikamaru, once again a one-sided affair, awarding the Uchiha 27, which lead to a fuming emo-king.

At the end of the spars, only two students were left, Inuzuka Kiba, the only boy able to keep up with Sasuke in a taijutsu spar thanks to his clan's style, and Uzumaki Naruto, the boy whose' style resembled a drunken brawler.

"Hey look Akamaru, looks like we got an easy fight." Boasted an over ego Inuzuka. Naruto just ignored the comment and took his place in the middle of the ring, and so did Kiba.

"Alright boys, remember the rules, no crippling, stop when we tell you. Both fighters ready?" Both boys nodded, one with seriousness while the other was smug. Both placed their hands in the 'seal of Confrontation'. "Alright … Hajime!"

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Cliff hanger! The next chapter will be the rest of the graduation exam and the Mizuki incident. R&R.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3: graduation exam part 2

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"_Alright boys, remember the rules, no crippling, stop when we tell you. Both fighters ready?" Both boys nodded, one with seriousness while the other was smug. Both placed their hands in the 'seal of Confrontation'. "Alright … Hajime!"_

As soon as the word was given, Kiba quickly got down on all fours and activated his clan's **Shikyaku no Jutsu **(four legs technique). This technique caused the user to gain more feral features like clawed finger nails and longer canine which resembles fangs. This technique was the basis of the Inuzuka clan's fighting style, **Juujin Taijutsu **(Beast human taijutsu).

Just before Kiba was about to attack, Naruto lifted his right hand above his head, a move usually used when a person was surrendering. "Ha, quitting already 'dobe'? I always knew you were pathetic!" taunted the cocky Inuzuka boy. Naruto glared at the boy that stood in front of him, he closed his raised hand into a fist and said, "Three things Kiba, firstly," in a similar fashion to earlier, Naruto raised his index finger, "a gesture can have more than one meaning, for example the one I just used could mean that I surrender, which isn't the case, or it could simply mean that I wish to ask a question to Mizuki-sensei. Secondly," he raised his middle finger and turned to face Mizuki, "Mizuki-sensei, isn't the Shikyaku no Jutsu a ninjutsu? Doesn't that mean that Kiba is cheating right now since this is meant to be a taijutsu only spar?" asked Naruto.

Mizuki was slightly taken back by the question; technically it was a ninjutsu, which was against the rules. But Mizuki wanted to see the demon-brat to suffer pain. "Technically, yes it is a ninjutsu, but it's a ninjutsu which is the basis of the Inuzuka style, and without it the style won't work, so I will allow the use of the Shikyaku no Jutsu." 'Ha, beat the brat'.

"Ok." Answered Naruto seemingly indifferent, but inside Naruto was smirking like a mad man, Mizuki had fallen right into his trap. Naruto turned his head back to Kiba and raised his ring finger, "Thirdly, that ego of your will get you killed in the future Kiba. When you go home tonight and your mother asks you how it went, you will tell both your mother and sister that you lost because you were too cocky." Naruto told the young Inuzuka.

A sudden shudder went down Kiba's spine, 'if that happens, they will 're-train' me into being more aware. But then again there's no way the 'dobe' can beat me, why don't we raise the stakes?' thought Kiba. "Fine, but _when _I beat you, you can't attend the academy ever again." stated a smug Kiba.

"Fine by me, I wasn't planning on coming back here anyway." answered the calm Uzumaki. "Now let's get this show on the road shall we? **Shikyaku no Jutsu.**" Naruto got down on all four and went through a similar transformation to Kiba, but Naruto became considerably taller due to dispelling the Shin henge, but everyone was too surprised by the technique he used to notice.

"What the hell!" roared Kiba, "That's an Inuzuka hiden, a technique only taught to Inuzuka clan members. How the hell did you get your hand on it?". Kiba was furious; the 'dobe' was stealing his clan's techniques.

"Found it." Naruto simply stated whilst shrugging, referring to the scroll he found two years ago at the Inuzuka compound.

Kiba was about to go and kill Naruto, but his attention was caught by Mizuki. "Uzumaki Naruto, release that jutsu at once or you'll fail this exam." stated Mizuki with authority in his voice.

"May I ask why, Mizuki-sensei?" asked the blond, Jinchuuriki.

"Why? That's a ninjutsu of course; it's against the rules of this exam!" He stated.

"But didn't you say, and I quote 'I will allow the use of the Shikyaku no Jutsu'. If you force me to release it, you are giving Kiba an unfair advantage by letting him use the very jutsu you are making me release." reasoned Naruto.

At that very moment, it hit Mizuki like a runaway train, 'he planned this from the start. He knew I would allow Kiba to use the technique, and, I would freak-out when he used it. I'll get you back for this Kyuubi-brat, you play me, and I'll play you back.' "Alright continue the match then!"

All attention was now back on the two fighters. 'The Shikyaku no Jutsu raises the user's speed, reflexes and fighting instinct to that of a wild animal. Even without it, I could easily beat Kiba without it; I only needed it to make Mizuki look like an idiot. But it would look too suspicious to release the technique after fighting to be allowed to use it. Well, guess I'm using the Juujin Taijutsu then.' concluded Naruto as he charged Kiba.

Kiba was in blind fury, the 'dobe' was turning the Inuzuka name to trash. He charged at Naruto and tried a claw swipe to the chest. Naruto saw the stack coming and grabbed Kiba's wrist with his own claw, using a small amount of chakra to help his grip. Kiba used his free hand to swipe again, this time aiming for Naruto's face. This yielded the same result. With Kiba totally defenceless, Naruto attacked. He moved quickly between Kiba's arms and kicked Kiba, square in the chin with his left leg. The force of the kick was enough to daze Kiba, which Naruto took advantage of. He swung Kiba around, and threw him 10 feet into the air. In a matter of seconds, Naruto appeared above Kiba and yelled "**Tsuga **(passing fang).", A violently spinning orange pillar appeared above Kiba, which then raced down towards the now falling Kiba, colliding with him and sending him crashing to the ground.

Everybody who had watched the match were in awe, the normally second best taijutsu user in the academy was beaten by the 'dead-last' in less than 20 seconds. "Mizuki-san, you need to call the conclusion" whispered Iruka.

Mizuki shook his head and announced the victor, "Inuzuka Kiba is unable to continue, the winner is Uzumaki Naruto.". Naruto released the Shikyaku no Jutsu, activated the Shin henge then walked towards Kiba. Mizuki started to panic, "Uzumaki, you have won, there's no need to continue.". Naruto just ignored him and kept making his way towards the fallen Inuzuka. As he reached the spot where Kiba had landed, he stopped and reached down with his hand. "Uzumaki!" Mizuki said in a threatening tone, but Naruto just ignored him once again. He leant down grabbed a hold of Kiba's arm, put it around his shoulder which supported Kiba as he helped him up.

Everybody was fairly surprised by Naruto's actions, especially after the way Kiba had talked to him. "W-why?" Kiba struggled to ask.

Naruto turned his head to face Kiba whilst making their way from the sparring ring. "Why what?" Naruto asked back.

"Why are you helping me? After how I talked to you, how I threatened you, made you agree to never come back to the academy if you lost. Why?" asked Kiba.

"Several reasons actually. Firstly, if when we both graduate, whenever that will be, we'll both be comrades, shinobi of the leaf, I want you to know that you can trust me and that I can trust you even after a fight. Secondly, like I said before, I won't be coming back here anyway. Third, I made you promise to tell your mother and sister that you lost a spar by being too cocky, I wouldn't know being an orphan and all, but guessing by yours and Shika's reactions when you talk about mothers, I'd say your forfeit is much worse than mine. And finally, we never got to officially finish the spar." explained Naruto.

Kiba was looking at Naruto in a totally different light from before. Naruto was the 'dead-last' of the class, always up for a fight, never respectful and a loud mouth. But this Naruto was different; he was smart, cunning and quick minded. This Naruto was logical and respectful of others. He was like a totally different person. The Kiba realised what Naruto had just said, "What do you mean we haven't finished the spar yet, you've already won." he stated.

"That's not what I'm talking about Kiba, it's this.". Naruto stopped moving; he lifted his fist in front of Kiba and lifted his index and middle finger together. Kiba immediately understood and did the same, then grabbed Naruto's fingers with his own, forming the 'Seal of Reconciliation'. Both gave each other sheepish gins and continued to walk off.

Everybody was moved by the scene they just witnessed, the budding of a new friendship, well almost everyone. Sasuke, the emo-king of Konoha just kept brooding, and Mizuki was seething, his plan to totally fool Naruto had failed. He had rigged the randomiser to pitch Kiba against Naruto, since Kiba was the most brutal taijutsu user in the academy; the kyuubi brat should've been beaten to a pulp. But somehow, the boy had turned the situation to not only make himself look good, but to ridicule Mizuki in the process.

After waiting for some time for the students to recover from the spars, Iruka announced it was time for the next exam. "Alright, one by one, you will all be cast under the **Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu **(Demonic illusion: Hell viewing technique) which you will try to dispel. You will be scored on your ability to actually dispel the genjutsu and the effectiveness of the prosess. Now let's on with this shall we, first up is …"

Once again Naruto tuned out until he heard the names of Hinata, Kiba his friends, or Sasuke which would indicate Naruto would be next. He was brought out of his musings early though when he heard a loud cheer. He looked up to see Sakura standing there being congratulated by Iruka. "Well done Sakura, you dispelled the genjutsu with almost 90% efficiency; your chakra control is exceptional." congratulated Iruka.

'Well of course she has amazing control, she barely has any chakra,' thought Naruto. 'But then again, 90% that's pretty impressive, she has amazing potential.' Sakura ended up scoring an undeniable 30 for her attempt. Next up was Hinata, due to her having her clan's famous dojutsu, the Byakugan; she was able to easily see through the genjutsu quite easily and due to her great chakra control she was able dispel it with an 80% efficiency, giving her a marc of 27.

Once again, Sasuke was second to last to go. The former Uchiha clan were famous genjutsu users because of their dojutsu, the Sharingan on of the San Daidojutsu (Three great dojutsu) had the ability to cast, amplify and see through genjutsu. For Sasuke, this test was a matter of pride. Sasuke scored an impressive 26. This resulted to a furious Uchiha for being outdone, even though the 70% efficiency was very impressive for the amount of chakra he possessed.

Naruto was once again the last student to take this test. He made his way out of the crowd and stood in front of Iruka. "Do you remember all the rules Naruto?" asked Iruka, receiving a nod from Naruto. "Alright then, good luck Naruto." said Iruka.

"If I was fighting a jonin, yes I would need luck. For this I don't." stated Naruto whilst giving Iruka a sheepish grin.

'What the hell happened to you Naruto, you were like a totally different person during the other tests, but just now you were yourself again.' thought Iruka. "Alright then, **Magen: Narakumi no Jutsu**." .

From Naruto's point of view a swirl of leaves appeared around him which he immediately recognised as the beginning of the genjutsu. 'I need to dispel this quickly, if it shows what I think it will; it won't be pretty'. He quickly flooded his coils with chakra to dispel the genjutsu. As the genjutsu faded, three crucified figures seemed to fade out with it. 'Yep defiantly not pretty' thought Naruto.

"Well done Naruto, that was a very efficient dispel, and very quick indeed. A full 30 for you as well." said Iruka. He turned to face the class and announced, "Alright everyone, time for the written exam." which received a groan from the majority of the of the students.

* * *

(Iruka's classroom)

The written examination had gone off without a single worry. There had been no attempt to sabotage Naruto's exam paper like the previous years. The test was fairly simple, made up of three stages: scenario work, tactics and shinobi history. Five people had gotten a full 30 on the paper: Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, Hyuuga Hinata, Uzumaki Naruto and a hidden genius in the form of the notoriously Nara Shikamaru.

Now it was time for the final test, ninjutsu. Along the front of the classroom was a long table. On top of the table were numerous Hitai-ate with the symbol of Konoha engraved on each of them. Behind the table there were a seated Iruka and Mizuki. Iruka stood up and announced the details of the last test. "This is the last part of the exam. You will all be called up, one by one, you will attempt the Bunshin no Jutsu. We will score you and give the result of whether you pass the exam or not. Is everybody clear?" asked Iruka.

One by one the students went up and were either elated by being awarded a Hitai-ate or disappointed at not being awarded one. Many tears of both joy and sorrow were shed. Hinata passed the test by providing two Bunshin and received a score of 27 which lead her to graduate the academy with an impressive score of 139 out of 150. Sasuke also passed the test with a score of 29 which led him to also graduate with a score of 139, placing him and Hinata in a tie for 'Rookie of the Year' at the moment.

Finally, the time had come for Naruto to take his last test and this one was the most risky for a simple reason, Naruto couldn't do a simple Bunshin. "Umm, Iruka-sensei, does it have to be the Bunshin no Jutsu?" asked Naruto after he made his way down to the bottom.

"Naruto, if you're asking if you can perform a henge or Kawarimi no Jutsu (Substitution jutsu), then no, you must perform a Bunshin." replied Iruka.

"No Iruka-sensei, that wasn't what I was asking. What I was asking was does it have to be the Bunshin no Jutsu? Or could it be a variant?" asked Naruto.

"Why? Even if you know a variant, the normal version is much easier to do." stated Iruka.

"Well the thing is Iruka-sensei is that it's kind of impossible for me to do the regular Bunshin because I simply have too much chakra, so for me it's a lot easier the other way around." explained a slightly nervous Naruto.

"Well … I guess its ok" said Iruka.

"Great! **Iwa Bunshin no Jutsu **(Stone clone jutsu)." Five streams of earth poured out of Naruto's mouth and became five separate pillars around him. The stone pillars then shaped into a Naruto shape and then gained Naruto's colours to form perfect clones of Naruto. One of the clones then turned to another, pulled out a kunai and stabbed the other in the neck which then turned back to stone. "That little demonstration was to prove that it was actually an Iwa Bunshin no Jutsu." explained Naruto to the confused looking Iruka.

"Wow … Naruto that was unbelievable, you pass 30 congratulations!" yelled Iruka. Iruka then handed a Hitai-ate to Naruto. "Now that that's over with, it's time to announce the 'Rookie of the Year' and I bet nobody would've expected this, no offence. Well without further ado, the 'Rookie of the Year' with full marks, a perfect 150, congratulations 'Rookie of the Year' Uzumaki Naruto!"

* * *

Sorry I know I said this would also be the Mizuki incident but I kind of got lost in the writing. The next chapter will probably be the Mizuki incident if I find a way to fit it in, and everybody debating the teams for the rookies. Remember R&R.


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry for the late update, I've been fairly busy with exams and revision. The next chapter will probably be late as well since I have my last exam next week and then some celebrating to do. Please don't forget about me :'(. Anyway enjoy.**

Chapter 4: Taking out a traitor

* * *

(Hokage's office)

Hiruzen Sarutobi could once again be found in his office behind a mountain of paperwork … exactly like any other day. He was just about to finish his sixth stack of the day when he heard a knock on the door. 'Hmmm, that must be the academy coming to give their report on the graduation exam. Naruto-kun, I really hope you were able to pass this time.' thought Hiruzen. "Enter" he commanded.

The door opened and in walked a wildly grinning Umino Iruka, Naruto's sensei this year. Hiruzen noticed the grin and couldn't help but wonder 'did you make it Naruto?'. "Ahh, Iruka-kun, I'm guessing you're here about the graduation exams." stated Hiruzen while pointing towards one of the seats in front of his desk.

"Right you are Hokage-sama." replied Iruka while sitting down in one of the chairs.

"So what are the results then?" asked the intrigued Hokage.

"We had 9 pass the exam. They are: Akimichi Choji, Nara Shikamaru, Haruno Sakura, Hyuuga Hinata, Aburame Shino, Yamanaka Ino, Inuzuka Kiba, Uchiha Sasuke …"

"…"

"…"

"… Well? Who's the ninth person?" asked Hiruzen in a hurried voice, the tension obviously getting to him.

Iruka gave a small chuckle at the old Hokage's actions. "The last of my students to pass the graduation exam this year is … Uzumaki Naruto!". The aged Hokage nearly jumped out of his seat in joy, "He finally made it, Naruto I'm so proud of you." said Hiruzen to nobody in particular.

"Oh, you're about to be even prouder when you hear about the 'Rookie of the Year'." stated Iruka.

"Oh really, how did young Sasuke do then?" asked Hiruzen.

"Well Hokage-sama, Uchiha Sasuke graduated with a total of 139, the same as Hyuuga Hinata. But they aren't the 'Rookie of the Year'. No that person graduated with a perfect score of 150, something that hasn't happened since Uchiha Itachi." explained Iruka.

"Then do tell who this hidden genius is." playfully ordered Hiruzen.

"It was Naruto Hokage-sama." Iruka said, not able to contain his smile.

"…"

"…"

"Are you sure?" asked Hiruzen. "If you're pulling my leg you better be ready to run Iruka-kun." stated the old Hokage.

Iruka quickly stood up in panic and waved his arms in front of him, "I can assure you Hokage-sama that this is no attempt to deceive you. Naruto was like a completely different person today …

* * *

(Meanwhile at the Hokage monument)

After receiving his Hitai-ate from Iruka, Naruto quickly congratulated some of his former classmates, the only four he could consider as friends, his only friends in 12 years. After congratulating a loud-mouthed Inuzuka, a lazy Nara, a 'big-boned' Akimichi and a shy Hyuuga he left to visit his favourite spot in Konoha, the head of the fourth Hokage on the Hokage monument. The place had always seemed to comfort him when he was younger for some reason, probably because it was out of reach from all the civilians.

He had been meditating there for about half an hour when he felt a familiar and unwelcome presence approaching. He knew exactly who it was, but decided to keep it a secret so that Mizuki would underestimate his true abilities.

Mizuki who had been stealthily making his way towards the demon container was itching to get his payback for how the boy embarrassed him earlier. Not only would his plan allow him to manipulate Naruto, become stronger but also to rid the world of the demon spawn. After walking down the cliff side and reaching the head of the Yondaime, he made his presence known to Naruto. "I finally found you Naruto, I've been looking for you ever since you left the academy." said Mizuki.

"Oh, Mizuki-sensei. Why have you been searching for me" asked Naruto, portraying a confused expression which countered his analysing thought prosess.

"Well, you left before anyone could tell you. Every 'Rookie of the Year' gets the chance to take a test to become Chuunin instead of Genin." lied Mizuki. His plan was simple really; he'd get Naruto to steal the 'Scroll of Seals', when Naruto came to give him the scroll, he would ambush him and then use the scroll to become one of the strongest ninja alive.

"Wow really, what do I have to do" asked Naruto in his fake hyperactive tone.

"Well you need to sneak into the Hokage's resident and retrieve a scroll known as the 'Scroll of Seals', it's a very large scroll, about you height actually ( Naruto is using his henge). After you've retrieved the scroll you need to deliver it to me in the clearing about 100 meters into the forest behind us. This will test your stealth, retrieval and placement finding skills." explained the relieved looking Mizuki.

Naruto figured this was a trap set up by Mizuki. He knew the significance of the 'Scroll of Seals', he learnt about it in a book he found about Konoha's military might. He knew if he took the scroll, it would be seen as a capital offence. But this could be the only chance he could get to learn jutsus from the scroll before he became Hokage. This would be a decision that would either greatly help his career, kill him or risk Mizuki going after the scroll in a more directive way. "Alright Mizuki-sensei, when do we meet?" asked Naruto.

"Well its 5 now, so meet me at 9. That leaves you with 4 hours to retrieve the scroll." said Mizuki with a barely noticeable smirk on his face.

* * *

(Hokage's office)

After explaining Naruto's actions during the graduation exam, Iruka leant back into his chair to wait for the Hokage's response.

Said Hokage was in deep thought, not only had Naruto obviously hidden his true talents from everyone including a C-ranked jutsu, he also had the ability to use some hiden which belonged to the Inuzuka clan, which he used against an Inuzuka. This was, as Nara Shikaku would say, 'troublesome'. "I will have to talk to him later about all of this; I can't believe he was able to keep that kind of talent away from us for so long" said Hiruzen as he stood up to look at the village he protected as its ruler.

"I agree Hokage-sama, but, when you do talk to him would it be possible for me to be here? Naruto and I share a similar past in some ways, though my troubles are nothing compared to his, but we are similar. I believe it would help him open up more." asked/said Iruka, he then quickly realised the mistake in his choice of words. "I'm sorry Hokage-sama; I didn't mean to imply that he doesn't trust you enough or anything. I just thought that my presence and help would make him even more at ease than he already is in your company. Not that I'm implying that you are losing any respect from people due to you allowing a child to see you as a grandfather figure…" Iruka quickly tried to explain, but his explanation seemed to make everything worse.

Hiruzen just raised his hand to silence the nervous Chuunin and gave a small chuckle. "There's no need to explain Iruka-kun. I know you had no ill-meaning in the words you said, and I didn't take any offence to them anyway." Hiruzen offered a comforting smile to the Chuunin schoolteacher as he took his seat once again. "I agree Iruka-kun, you being here will help Naruto to open up, so I will allow it. Now on to other business, let's discuss the Genin squads. I know that tradition tells us to put the 'Rookie of the Year', 'Top Kunoichi' and 'Dead-last' together in one squad to balance the power, but I would like to change it this year. If we followed the tradition, it would be Naruto, Hinata and Choji, but I have special plans for Choji. I believe that he, Shikamaru and Ino could become as strong if not stronger Ino-Shika-Cho formation as their fathers." explained Hiruzen.

Iruka nodded along with Hiruzen, seeing the logic in his words. "Ok then, if they are one squad, what about the other two teams. It will be very hard to balance out the teams now. Sasuke and Hinata are at the same level, they are very talented in many aspects; Sasuke needs a little more work on his Taijutsu and Hinata on her Ninjutsu. Sakura has great intelligence but is slightly lacking in the physical aspect. Kiba is like the total opposite to Sakura, he reminds me of what we thought Naruto was only stronger, he lacks in intelligence and emotional control but is very good at Taijutsu, but, tends to rely on his clan techniques. Shino also relies on his clan techniques, but is better rounded than Kiba; he's average or above in all aspects and like most members in his clan, uses logic to answer questions. Naruto is a total mystery to us, we thought he was almost a lost cause, yet he graduates on his third try with a perfect score and uses C-rank ninjutsu and two D-rank Inuzuka clan hiden." Iruka said, voicing his concerns.

"I see, well this is my opinion on the matter-" Hiruzen was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Hmm, I wasn't expecting anyone, enter!" he commanded the last part so the person outside would hear him. The door opened and in walked the familiar figure of Uzumaki Naruto. He closed the door and walked further into the room and stopped when he reached the middle. "Ah Naruto-kun, we were just talking about you actually and we also need to talk to you about your performances today, don't worry you're not in any trouble we just want to ge-"once again Hiruzen was interrupted by Naruto.

"I'm sorry about this jiji …"

* * *

(Three hours later)

It had been three hours since Naruto retrieved the 'Scroll of Seals' for Mizuki. For the past three hours Naruto had been going through the scroll, copying the description of each jutsu and skill as he went along. Over the years he had almost perfected the art of copying jutsu description due to practising fuinjutsu, but also copying some ruined jutsu scrolls he found in the trash that would produce an unwelcome smell or attract unwelcome guests. He had used the first three hours to go through the giant scroll and pick out the jutsu he found most useful and copy them down, there was no point in copying jutsu he didn't find useful for him like the **Sen'eijashu **(Hidden shadow snake hands) which summoned snakes out of the user's sleeves. The thought of which wasn't very compelling to Naruto.

After sorting out around twenty jutsu he decided to try to use one of the jutsu. First up was the **Kage Bunshin no Jutsu **(Shadow clone jutsu), it was a B-ranked Kinjutsu (forbidden jutsu) that used a lot of chakra which made the jutsu dangerous to people without the proper chakra reserve, even lethal. The jutsu created physical clones like the Iwa no Bunshin which dispels with one significant hit. The amazing part of this jutsu was that anything the clone learned during it's time would be transferred to the user when dispelled.

It was a risky move to try to learn this jutsu because Naruto didn't know whether his chakra reserves were large enough to pull off the jutsu, but if it was possible, the possibilities seemed endless.

After half an hour of trial and error, Naruto was finally able to make a Kage Bunshin, much to his delight. He then set on to try the **Shuriken Kage Bunshin no Jutsu **(Shuriken shadow clone jutsu) which he found surprisingly easy after being able to create a Kage Bunshin. That technique only took quarter an hour to complete, which left Naruto with fifteen minutes to learn one more technique before Mizuki arrived. Naruto decided to learn **Bunshin Daibakuha **(Clone great explosion) which meant overloading a Kage Bunshin to cause it to explode. This jutsu was also fairly easy due to his high chakra reserves, overloading the clone was quite simple. He finished the jutsu just before Mizuki arrived at the clearing.

Mizuki was wearing his full Chuunin armour and a giant Shuriken secured on his back. He was on a branch in one of the trees on the edge of the clearing. "Good work Naruto, you did well." said Mizuki, making his presence known.

Naruto turned around quickly and startled, even though he knew Mizuki was already there, he wanted to keep Mizuki underestimating him. "Oh hey Mizuki-sensei, I didn't see you there. I got the scroll, so do I pass?" Naruto asked, still portraying his fake personality.

"Oh yes Naruto you did well, but unfortunately for you, you won't become Chuunin." stated Mizuki.

"What why, I did everything you asked me, why can't I become Chuunin?" whined the young Uzumaki.

"Simple, because you're a demon." Naruto slightly flinched at the word demon. "Do you know why the villagers hate you Naruto? It's because you killed their loved ones twelve years ago. You came here, you killed countless people, you killed our Hokage and yet you're allowed to live here. You are a demon Naruto; the fourth sealed away your personality and died in the prosess. You are a true demon KYUUBI!". Naruto couldn't believe what he was hearing; he was the strongest demon to have ever lived. He had killed countless innocent people. That is why everybody hated him, they had a right to. He slumped to his knees, head facing the ground.

Mizuki smirked at the seen in front of him, it was almost too easy. He took off his shuriken and tossed it towards Naruto. He was doing the world a favour by killing the demon. He would be seen as a hero by many. The shuriken flew through the air towards the distracted child. When the shuriken was only inches away from Naruto's neck, a loud 'clang' was heard and the shuriken ended up piercing a tree. Mizuki quickly looked to see who the intruder was, but there was no one in sight. Then the small sobs he heard from Naruto slowly turned into a menacing chuckle. Naruto slowly lifted his head, a devilish smirk on his mouth.

After a quick staring competition with his opponent, Naruto jumped up, drew a kunai and flung it towards Mizuki, which was easily deflected. "Is that the best you can do brat, take THIS!" Mizuki flung the kunai back towards Naruto quickly followed by a hand full of shuriken. Naruto evaded the projectiles. Mizuki was about to charge the young blonde again when he heard insane chirping from behind him. He slowly turned around to see Hatake Kakashi standing there, Sharingan blazing and a lightning covered fist. Mizuki turned to run but was blocked by another Kakashi. He then noticed he was surrounded by an army of the masked shinobi. He stood there in a panic, he couldn't move, he was to afraid. He was about to turn again when his entire world fell into darkness.

Naruto stood up from his kneeling position he was in before the 'fight' started. As soon as he lifted his head he had caught Mizuki in a Genjutsu. Mizuki was now slumped on the floor, with Iruka standing over him. He heard a rustle in the bushes and found Sarutobi Hiruzen walking towards him, "Well done Naruto-kun, you successfully completed the task given to you, which is a B-ranked mission. Congratulations." said Hiruzen.

When Naruto went to see the Hokage before, he told him everything about Mizuki. In exchange for the information Hiruzen agreed to leave him alone with the scroll for the time. It was a risky move, but it paid off. "Told you I would didn't I." said Naruto

* * *

Thanks for reading, sorry again for the late update. R&R


	5. Chapter 5

**Sorry for the late update, but as I said, I had my last exam and I wanted to celebrate a bit. Sorry about that. Please enjoy.**

Chapter 5: Your Jonin sensei will be …

* * *

(Hokage's Tower)

Every Jonin and Tokubetsu Jonin of Konoha was gathered in the conference hall of the Hokage Tower. Every occupant was closely listening to the Hokage who stood at the podium in front of them. The Hokage had just been discussing the new Genin and who would be teaching them. The announcement had caused quite an uproar with the Jonin.

"Hokage-sama, you can not be serious with this. You are basically breaking every single tradition of Konoha with this new system you're proposing." stated a man wearing the slandered Jonin attire, his Hitai-ate worn as a bandana and van dyke beard.

"I am completely serious Mimura-san. To be correct though, I never proposed anything, I ordered these changes, and I believe this system will produce the best Shinobi this village has seen since the Sannin." stated Hiruzen, "Does anybody else have an opinion on the matter?" he asked.

"…"

"Good, meeting adjourned, all of the Jonin sensei for this year's graduation are to collect their new students at 12:00 tomorrow. Don't be late!" Hiruzen looked toward a silver haired man with his Hitai-ate covering his left eye.

* * *

(The next morning, Training ground 68)

Like every other day, Naruto could be found in the hidden room in the cave of training ground 68. A week had passed since the Mizuki incident. Naruto had gone straight to the Hokage to inform him of Mizuki's treachery. He told the Hokage when he arrived at his office that he had information on a traitor but in return for the information the Hokage would allow him one favour. Hiruzen had agreed to the favour not knowing what it was. Naruto told him all about Mizuki's "offer" to which they formed a plan. Naruto would wait for Mizuki to arrive while Iruka and Hiruzen hid until the perfect time to strike. It took a bit of arguing from Naruto to be allowed to be alone with the scroll but in the end it all worked out.

A week since he learnt what is possibly the best learning tool he could have; the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. It had been a big gamble to try to learn the technique without knowing the full capacity of chakra needed for the Jutsu. Luckily for Naruto, he has enormous chakra reserves which the Kage Bunshin barely made a dent in. This allowed Naruto to use the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu and its larger version **Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu **(Multiple Shadow clone Jutsu) in a way that couldn't be done before. Naruto could use the memory feedback characteristic of the techniques to learn multiple ninjutsu, genjutsu, fuinjutsu, improve chakra control, also learn Taijutsu and Bukijutsu styles due to muscle memory actually being a mental memory and not physical. While the clones work on those, the original Naruto worked physical conditioning which was something the clones didn't transfer.

But it had also a week since he found out about the Kyuubi no Kitsune was sealed in his guts. Hiruzen had told him before going to the forest because he feared Mizuki would try to use it to help defeat Naruto, which turned out to be correct. At first Naruto actually started to think that he was the demon itself, but Iruka was able to convince him with only a few simple words, "A demon did kill my parents which left me wanting revenge, but you didn't … you're Uzumaki Naruto.

Thanks to the help of his Kage Bunshin training, Naruto was able to learn all 20 jutsus he copied from the 'Scroll of Seals' which he was very excited about. He learnt how to make a resistance seal which he now wears on his own body to increase his physical conditioning and would only turn it off on occasions to get used to the extra speed or in a serious life threatening incident. Naruto had also started to combine his main chakra affinity and his Bukijutsu together to try to create his own style.

Today however Naruto wasn't training; today Naruto was preparing his weapons pouch, his uniform and his henge. Today was the day that the Genin teams were assigned, he had dabbled with the idea of not going with his henge, but he wanted to make sure he could trust his sensei like Iruka first. After making sure he had everything he might need like kunai, shuriken, ninja wire, containment seals with a torrent of water inside and many more objects, he headed out towards the academy.

* * *

(30 minutes later, Shinobi academy)

As Naruto walked into the classroom of Umino Iruka, he could see several familiar faces already there, Akimichi Choji and Nara Shikamaru were lazing in the top row, Uchiha Sasuke was sitting next a window; brooding as usual. In the middle row of the classroom, a weird enough combination was conversing. A slightly mellower yet still loud mouthed Inuzuka Kiba was chatting away with drastically more confident Hinata, even though she still had a slight shy exterior. He decided that these were the ones that he would talk to.

"Hey guys!" Naruto announced, making the pair aware of his arrival.

"Hello Naruto-k-kun." replied Hinata with only a slight stutter.

"Hey Naruto, good to see you. Anything happened since the graduation?" asked a curious Inuzuka.

"Not much to speak of no. How about you guys? Oh and your stutter is getting a lot better Hinata-chan, you seem a lot more confident" asked/stated Naruto.

"Thank you Naruto-kun. My father seemed slightly pleased that I graduated in a higher position than my estimated position was, but he's also slightly 'sour' that I wasn't 'Rookie of the Year' and also baffled about your sudden change, as is everybody else." said Hinata.

"Ouch Hinata-chan, are you saying that you didn't think I was a totally awesome ninja before?" Naruto jokingly asked while grabbing at the area where his heart is.

"N-no, t-that's not w-what I meant at-t all!" Hinata tried to reply.

"Relax Hinata-chan, I know what you meant. Anyway I never even tried before so what did I expect." said Naruto.

"By the way man, my mum wants to talk to you about our Taijutsu spar. You better go see her tonight if you can, please for my sake." Kiba jokingly begged while crying fake anime tears.

"I'll try, but who knows what the Jonin sensei will want us to do." said Naruto.

At that very moment a very loud pair walked into the room. One was a blond haired girl with fringe/bang that seemed to defy gravity. The other was a pink haired girl with an abnormally big forehead. Both were arguing about who could sit next to Sasuke.

"Oh great the banshees are here." Naruto said to himself. "Oi! I know how you can settle this. Ino sit next to Sasuke, Sakura sit next to her," Naruto said as he got the attention of both girls, "after both of you sit down, Ino use a Kawarimi with Sasuke the both of you sit next to Sasuke and you don't have to fight." stated Naruto.

A tick mark appeared on the Uchiha's forehead. Sasuke quickly appeared in front of Naruto on his desk. "What the hell dobe! Why did you do that, it would've been bad enough to sit next to one of them, but now bo-" Sasuke wasn't able to finish as he was accidentally hit in the back by a sitting Aburame Shino.

Sasuke's fall forward seemed as if it was in slow motion, much to the horror of Ino, Sakura and Hinata since the fall would seemingly end up with both boys taking the other's first kiss. Naruto though had other plans; he quickly used Kawarimi with both Ina and Sakura so Sasuke would end up kissing both of them instead.

15 seconds after the fall and kiss, a blushing Sasuke quickly got up and went back to his spot next to the window. Ino and Sakura were both on the floor, unconscious, smiles on their faces and small nosebleeds.

After another 10 seconds of silence a roar of laughter was heard from both Kiba and Naruto, quickly followed by a giggling Hinata, Choji and Shikamaru… and finally a newly arrived Iruka who witnessed the entire situation. "Wow that is the first time I've ever seen the Kawarimi used in that sort of situation before. Anyway everybody quiet down … and somebody wake up Ino and Sakura." ordered the scarred academy teacher.

After Ino and Sakura regained consciousness and everybody quieted down, Iruka gave his speech about congratulating everyone on become Genin and what that title ensued. For Naruto one thing it meant was access to Konoha's Shinobi library, Genin section and collect jutsus or exercises he hadn't already scavenged. "Alright, Now that that's over with, let's get to the team announcements. The first team is Team 10 which will consist of Nara Shikamaru, Akimichi Choji and Yamanaka Ino, your Jonin sensei will be Sarutobi Asuma." Iruka told his now former students.

"WHAT! How come I'm stuck with the lazy bum and his 'chubby' friend!" exclaimed a furious Ino.

"Ha, take that Ino-pig, now I'll be the one on the same team as Sasuke-kun." stated Sakura.

"Actually Sakura, you're on Team 8 along with Inuzuka Kiba and Aburame Shino, your Jonin sensei is Yuhi Kurenai." explained Iruka.

"Dog and Bug boy!" screeched Sakura, making every occupant in the room wince.

"Anyway, the last team is Team 7, Hyuuga Hinata, Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto, your Jonin sensei is Hatake Kakashi." concluded Iruka. As he finished the students started to talk amongst themselves about the teams.

"Hey Kiba, sorry about you not being on our team. Are you going to be ok?" asked Naruto.

"Are you kidding me man, have you ever heard of Yuhi Kurenai? She's a total babe! I'm going to have the time of my life." answered Kiba in a very excited and slightly perverted manner.

"Ok then. Well good luck anyway. God knows your ears are going to need it with that banshee on your team." replied Naruto.

Within ten minutes Team 8 and 10's sensei had arrived and left with their teams, which left Team 7 all alone. Naruto suddenly got up and walked over to Sasuke who was still sitting on his own.

"Hey Sasuke, do you want to come with Hinata and me to go get some food?" asked a polite Naruto.

"Are you really that much of an idiot dobe. We're meant to wait for our sensei here." replied a very smug Uchiha.

"You obviously haven't heard of Hatake Kakashi the have you Sasuke. Let me inform you that Kakashi is probably one of the strongest shinobi in the village, but if his assignment is anything less than A-rank, he'll be at least 3 hours late. So… food?" Naruto told the last Uchiha.

"Hn" was the only reply Naruto got.

"Fine then, come on Hinata-chan, we'll go to this great ramen stand I know…"

* * *

(2 and a half hour later)

The door to Iruka's classroom swung open to reveal Naruto and Hinata returning. Sasuke had been waiting for his sensei all alone after he refused to go with Naruto and Hinata. As Naruto walked passed Sasuke table he took out a paper bag and carefully placed it on Sasuke's desk. When Sasuke opened the bag, he found a two bowls of ramen in the bag; he turned to look at Naruto with confusion.

"What?" asked Naruto, "I thought you might be hungry since you waited here for over two hours. I brought Miso and Beef in case you didn't like one. Enjoy." explained Sasuke.

Sasuke was in slight shock. Never in his and Naruto's relationship, despite having had a similar past, neither had done anything nice towards the other. "Thanks." Sasuke muttered.

"Welcome." replied Naruto.

"I'm impressed Naruto." came a voice from one of the classroom windows. "That was a very nice gesture you made towards Sasuke even though you have a very rocky relationship." stated the mystery voice.

Without even a flinch or turning around to look at the new occupant Naruto replied, "Thanks Kakashi".

"Shouldn't you call me Kakashi-sensei as a sine of respect?" asked the now identified Kakashi as he came to view on the other side of the window.

Naruto just walked over to the window and opened it to let his new sensei in. "Respect is earned no given Kakashi. Once you gain my respect I'll gladly give it to you." replied Naruto.

"Very true Naruto. Now for my first impression of you guys … I surprisingly like you. Meet me at the roof in five minutes." And with that Kakashi disappeared in poof of smoke.

"Hinata-chan, come over here." Naruto said as he put his hand on Sasuke's shoulder.

"What the hell are you doing dobe?" asked Sasuke.

"Just shut up and be prepared to be disorientated." stated Naruto, as Hinata came close enough to put a hand on her shoulder.

* * *

(Academy roof)

Kakashi arrived at the roof through the use **Shunshin no Jutsu **(Body Flicker Jutsu) and sat down waiting for his new students to come up the stairs. Much to Kakashi's surprise they didn't arrive with the use of stairs but appeared in the form of an orange lightning bolt.

'Very impressive, not only does he know the Shunshin no Jutsu but also has his own variant for it. Very impressive.' thought Kakashi. "Now that you're here, why don't you introduce yourselves? Tell me your name, likes, dislikes hobbies and dreams for the future." said Kakashi.

The three Genin in front of him just stayed silent as if waiting for him to go first. "Fine I'll go first then, I'm Hatake Kakashi, I have no desire to tell you my likes and dislikes, dreams for the future… hmm… and I have lots of hobbies." explained Kakashi. All three Genin sweat dropped, 'he only told us his name' they thought simultaneously. "All right, duck hair, you go first." said Kakashi referring to Sasuke.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke, I don't like anything, I dislike a lot, manly traitors and people who call me duck hair, I don't have hobbies, as for dreams, it isn't exactly a dream, more of a goal, to restore my clan and … to kill a certain man." said Sasuke in his brooding manner.

"Bit of a downer but ok, girly, you're next"

"My name is Hyuuga Hinata, I like my friends, gardening and a special someone … my dislikes are bullies, people who judge others and a tradition of the Hyuuga clan, my hobby is gardening, my dream for the future is to become head of the Hyuuga clan and unite both main and branch families." said Hinata.

"A very bold goal indeed. Lastly, go on blondie." stated Kakashi.

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto, I like my friends, training and all shinobi arts, my dislikes are people who judge others for something that's out of their control and people who won't take help when it's given to them which makes life hard for everybody else, my hobby used to be playing pranks, but its also training, my dream for the future … everybody probably knows already but what the hell, to become Hokage and surpass all of the other Hokages, but also to find out who my parents were." Kakashi flinched slightly at the mention of Naruto's parents which only Naruto picked up, 'interesting'.

"Now that that's over with, meet me at training ground three tomorrow for your real Genin test." said Kakashi.

"Um Kakashi-sensei, what do you mean our 'real Genin test'?" asked Hinata.

"I mean the test I must give you to decide if I feel you're capable enough to become Genin. The test has a 66% failure rate. So meet me there at 8 a.m … oh, and don't eat breakfast, you'll only throw it back up." warned Kakashi who then used Shunshin to get away.

Naruto stood up and turned to face his team-mates. "All right, meet me at training ground 3 at 9:30, I've got an idea… and ignore the no breakfast thing, it's better to throw something up and have energy than not to throw anything up but feel weak. Bye." With that Naruto also used Shunshin to get away.

* * *

**Please R&R**


	6. Chapter 6

**Please R&R. Hope you enjoy.**

Chapter 6: Meeting the pack and The Bell Test

(Gap line)

(Rooftops of Konoha)

After leaving his new team-mates at the roof of the academy, Naruto was making his way towards the Inuzuka clan compound. To say he was nervous was a slight understatement … he was terrified. The Inuzuka clan's fiery temper was fairly common knowledge; they were known to blow up for the most trivial reasons. So imagine how they would react if they thought their clan secrets had been stolen, and by somebody that was not well liked in the village. To put in simple terms … Naruto was in deep shit.

Naruto had been hoping over the roofs of Konoha for of ten minutes until he finally he arrived at the Inuzuka Clan compound. It looked like your average street that was surrounded by a 10 foot wall. Naruto walked up to the gate entrance. The two Inuzuka guards looked suspiciously at the young blond in front of them. "State your business here at the Inuzuka clan compound." said one of the guards in an authoritative tone.

"I believe that Tsume-san, your clan head wishes to speak to me, Uzumaki Naruto." replied Naruto calmly.

Both guards looked at each other and then turned back to Naruto. "Wait here while I go confirm with Tsume-sama if your statement is correct Uzumaki-san." said one of the guards before turning and walking down the street. After a few minutes passed, the guard returned. "Tsume-sama is expecting you, I will escort you to the clan head's premises Uzumaki-san." he told Naruto.

"Thank you Inuzuka-san."

After walking down the street, they arrived at the clan head residence; which surprisingly was the same as all the other houses. The guard took Naruto into one of the offices and told him to wait for the clan head and then quickly left. Naruto started inspecting the room; it was lined with some well crafted weapons from maces to katana. After giving a quick inspection to some of the weapons, the door slid open to reveal the Inuzuka clan head, Tsume Inuzuka.

Ah, so you're the Naruto that my son just won't stop talking about are you?" Tsume jokingly asked.

"Yes I am, Inuzuka Tsume I presume?" asked Naruto. Tsume nodded. "Kiba said that you wished to speak to me Tsume-san."

"Please Naruto, there's no need for honorific or be overly respectful, but yes I do want to talk to you after Kiba told me about your match with him during the academy graduation exam." Naruto just nodded. "Kiba said that during your match you used two Inuzuka clan hiden. Is this correct?" asked Tsume.

"No it isn't." said Naruto.

"Are you calling my son a liar Uzumaki?" asked Tsume in a threatening tone.

"Oh no, he merely made a mistake because I used three Inuzuka hiden, the Shikyaku no Jutsu, Tsuga and the Juujin Taijutsu style." stated the blond Jinchuuriki with indifference in his voice.

"Hn, I like your attitude kid, but now that you've admitted that you know Inuzuka clan hiden, I have to ask, how is it that you know them." asked a very curious and suspicious Tsume.

"Like I told your son when he asked me, found them." Naruto told her.

"Kid you're playing a dangerous game here. Do you really expect me to believe that you found not only one, bur three Inuzuka clan hiden?" asked Tsume.

"Actually, I found more, but it was impossible for me to use them because I didn't have a canine partner, but I think I have found a way to do it. I recently learnt the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, so with that I'm pretty sure I can use all the techniques you need a partner for, well maybe not **Dainamikku Makingu **(Dynamic Marking) am I right." Naruto said with a timid laugh.

"What the hell are you kid? You're able to use a B-rank Kinjutsu that should kill you; you have multiple hiden from the Inuzuka clan, if not more. You don't make sense. And where the hell did you find those Jutsu ANYWAY!" as you can tell, Tsume was getting slightly irritated.

"The trash" was Naruto's simple answer.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Um, Tsume, are you ok?" asked a concerned Naruto.

"The trash. The trash. WHAT THE HELL WERE INUZUKA HIDEN SCROLLS DOING IN THE TRASH?!"

"How the hell should I know, all I was doing was scavenging for anything I could use as a shinobi since nobody would sell me anything." replied a now irritated Naruto.

"Oh, sorry Naruto. That was meant to be a rhetorical question. Anyway, I must warn you that what has happened could be seen as an offence, but I will turn a blind eye as long as you return all the scrolls back to the Inuzuka clan, deal?" Tsume offered.

"On one condition, I get to study the Inuzuka hiden for as long as I want. In return I will give you all of the scrolls I have concerning Inuzuka techniques and I'll put a blood seal on my self which will prevent me from teaching the techniques to anyone, except for any family I might have in the future. Deal?" offered Naruto.

"Deal." replied the Inuzuka clan head.

(Gap line)

(Training ground 3)

It was 9:30, the time Naruto had told his team-mates to arrive. He had already been there for an hour setting up the terrain with various traps. Naruto knew that it was fairly slim that Sasuke would listen to his advice but at least he knew Hinata would probably listen. He had spent all night going over what he knew about Kakashi and the second or 'real' Genin test. Every time he'd witnessed one, they all centred on what the sensei thought were most important to a ninja.

Kakashi was a very difficult person to try to figure out. "He was the pupil of Namikaze Minato, the Yondaime Hokage who was the student of Jiraiya, one of the three legendary Sannin, who were the pupils of Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage. The Sandaime is a strong believer in 'The will of fire', which was the life philosophy of the Shodai Hokage which meant people should love, believe, cherish and fight to protect the village. Jiraiya probably passed that philosophy down to the Yondaime, which should mean that it was passed down to Kakashi. If Kakashi wants us to protect the village and everyone in it, then that means we need to protect our comrades as well, and the best way to show that is through teamwork." Naruto told himself, he then gave a small smirk, "What do you guys think?" he called out.

Nobody answered Naruto, so he picked up two stones, which he threw in opposite directions, one into a tree, and the other into a hedge. Once again no reaction … until both Sasuke and Hinata came into view, being dragged by Naruto clones. "You know it's really not nice to spy on people."

Sasuke only gave his trademark reply of "Hn". "I'm s-sorry for spying Naruto-kun. I was curious to see how you worked to think that you are so strong" said an embarrassed Hinata.

"No need to apologise Hinata-chan. But anyway, what do you guys think of my theory?" asked Naruto.

"It's a bit to farfetched and circumstantial. How do you even know he'll test us on his beliefs anyway?" replied a smug looking Sasuke.

"I've watched a lot of these tests in secret, every time the Jonin tells their pupils that have passed what they believe are most important to a shinobi. Also if my information is correct, Kakashi's philosophy is a sort of 'never leave a man behind'. All in all, I think that he will test us on teamwork, to see if we'll look after one another. What the specific test is, I don't know, but I strongly believe it's to do with teamwork." explained Naruto.

"Hn"

(Gap line)

(2 hours later)

A poof of smoke and a care free "Yo" signalled the arrival of Hatake Kakashi. He received a dark glare from Sasuke, slightly annoyed from Hinata and … expectance from Naruto? Kakashi moved towards one of the training posts. He took out a stop clock and placed it on one of the posts. "All right, the clock is set to go off at noon." he reached into his pouch and retrieved two bells. "Your goal is to retrieve one of the bells before the times up. If you don't succeed in obtaining a bell, I'll tie you up to a post while I eat lunch in front of you while you have none." At the end of that statement a loud growl was heard. Kakashi noticed that there was only one growl which came from Sasuke's stomach. "Naruto, Hinata, why did you eat breakfast when I specifically told you not to."

Sasuke had his trademark smug smile on his face. "Kakashi, I told both Sasuke and Hinata to ignore your _advice_, yes advice not order because it was completely irrational and made no sense. Isn't it best that we have enough energy and throw up than to feel very weak but look more respectable?" explained Naruto.

"You are very good at twisting people's words aren't you Naruto. Anyway, also if you don't succeed in receiving a bell, you will be sent back to the academy." Kakashi further explained.

"Ano, but there are only two bells." noticed Hinata.

"Correct, that means that at least one of you will be sent back to the academy. Oh, and before I forget, come at me with intent to kill or you will have no chance in succeeding. Now begin!" Kakashi ordered.

All three quickly separated in a flash. 'Hm, they hide pretty well, the Uchiha is in a tree directly behind me, the Hyuuga is in a bush in y blind spot and Naruto … hm I can't pin him anywhe-' Kakashi couldn't finish his train of thought as he quickly dodged a pair of well aimed kunai. "You know you're meant to hide right … Naruto?"

"Who said anything about hiding Kakashi? How are we meant to get those bells while hiding." replied Naruto. With that he started a full frontal attack. 'Hm, it seems like Sandaime-sama and the academy has really overestimated you.' thought Kakashi.

(Elsewhere)

Sasuke was sitting in his hiding spot, watching the embarrassment in front of him. Naruto, the boy who had taken the title of 'Rookie of the Year' from him, was acting like the dobe he'd always been before. After everything he'd told them this morning, this wasn't how he should act. He told them to work together, no matter what Kakashi threw at them. But here he was going against a Jonin all on his own. Was he stabbing them in the back? The last Uchiha was totally confused. He was quickly brought out of his musings, when he felt a presence behind him. He pulled out a kunai and was about to slash behind him when he recognised the voice of his 'attacker'. "Calm down Sasuke, it's only me." said Naruto.

"Naruto! What the hell, how are you here and there at the same time? You can't be a Bunshin because you're acting independently." stated Sasuke.

"I'm a Kage Bunshin, I was one of the kunai boss threw at Kakashi. The other has gone to find Hinata-chan. Boss needs to know all techniques you can use so he can form a plan against Kakashi. Once you tell me everything you can do and how well, I'll dispel, letting boss know what you can do. The same is happening to Hinata right now. After boss has a plan he'll send more Kage Bunshin to let you know what the plan is. Do we have your co-operation?"

(Back with Naruto and Kakashi)

Naruto was still attacking Kakashi, nowhere near his best of course, while Kakashi deflected every attack. 'Ok, so Hinata knows the **Juuken Taijutsu **(Gentle Fist Taijutsu), **Juukenpo Ichigekishin **(Gentle Fist Art One Blow Body), **Hakke Sanjuuni Sho **(Eight Trigrams Thirty-Two Palms) and the standard academy Jutsu. Come on Sasuke. I don't have all day, Kakashi's getting suspicious.' Naruto did his best to keep Kakashi occupied, but finally, his clone dispelled. 'YES! Well done, Sasuke. I now know we can beat him'. Naruto quickly made 5 Kage Bunshin, two of which escaped without Kakashi noticing their existence.

Naruto kept all of Kakashi's attention on him until his clones dispelled. When they finally dispelled, Naruto smirked. He jumped back away from Kakashi and started to go through hand seals for **Doton: Dosekiryuu **(Earth Release: Mudslide) which caused the earth around Kakashi to turn into a landslide. Kakashi jumped over the landslide only to realise that there was a fireball coming towards him. He quickly used Kawarimi with a log that he was almost in his blind spot. As soon as Kakashi appeared in his new position he was hit from the bottom by a torrent of water. A fazed Kakashi did his best to get up on his feet, only for his eyes to meet the pupil-less Byakugan.

"You are within my field of divination sensei, **Hakke Sanjuuni Sho!**" said Hinata. With lightning fast strikes Hinata closed a quarter of Kakashi's Tenketsu, all in his legs, leaving them useless. With Kakashi's legs useless, he could only use his arms to defend himself.

Sasuke then appeared and threw shuriken towards him. The shuriken took a quick detour due to a tug on the wires attached to them from Sasuke. The wires lapped around Kakashi's arms, tying them up, leaving them useless as well. Kakashi was totally defeated.

Kakashi looked up to see his Genin in front of him, all looking at him. "Now that you've captured me, what will you do about the bells? Who's going back to the academy?" asked Kakashi.

"No one." said Naruto.

"It's either all of us or none of us." said Hinata.

"Never leave a man behind." said Sasuke.

"Fine then, looks like you ALL … pass." Kakashi said while giving his trademark eye smile. "But just so you know," a puff of smoke appeared where Kakashi was to be replaced by a log, "I could've escaped anytime I wanted. But good job though." Kakashi said from behind his Genin, arms around them.

"Well looks like we're your Genin Kakashi. So what will you teach us first?" asked Naruto.

"Ah, about that, Sandaime-sama has set up a new routine in the way we Jonin will teach our Genin. Come over towards the stumps for a bit and I'll tell you all about it." said Kakashi.

"All right, as you may know, shinobi usually specialise in one or two aspects of a shinobi art. For me my main specialty is ninjutsu, I know over a thousand. That means that if you want to learn ninjutsu, I'm your man. But if you want to learn about Genjutsu, Team 8's sensei is much better equipped. So this is how it will work. I will be teaching you and every other team ninjutsu and teamwork. Team 8's sensei, Yuhi Kurenai will teach everyone Genjutsu and chakra control. Team 10's sensei, Sarutobi Asuma will teach weaponry or Bukijutsu and elemental manipulation. Maito Gai, will teach Taijutsu and physical conditioning, he's your cousin Neji's sensei Hinata." Hinata slightly flinched at the mention of her family. "And finally a Tokubetsu Jonin named Mitarashi Anko will teach you stealth, tracking and trap making." finished Kakashi.

"Wow that's a lot to take in. So who's teaching us first?" asked Naruto.

"Me, we'll do missions every morning, then you'll go to whoever's teaching you that day for the afternoon. So meet me at the Hokage Tower at 8." Kakashi told them.

"Is that 8 or 11?" asked Sasuke.

"…"

"What?" asked Sasuke.

"You just made a joke." said Hinata in a shocked tone.

"That shouldn't happen." said Kakashi.

"Something is wrong for the universe." said Naruto.

"Hn, whatever." said Sasuke, a very small smirk on his face.


	7. Chapter 7

**So sorry for the late update. I had some writer's block. I know cliché but true. Anyway hope you enjoy. R&R **

Chapter 7: First mission and First Training session

* * *

(In front of the Hokage Tower)

It was 8 am; all three Genin of Team 7 had arrived at the Hokage Tower and were waiting for their sensei Hatake Kakashi to arrive. Naruto was still using his academy henge to hide his real appearance; he wanted to be totally sure that he could trust everyone before revealing himself. Hinata he could probably trust, but he felt that waiting for Sasuke and Kakashi would be best.

As Team 7 waited outside for their sensei to arrive, several shinobi passed by, including Team 8 and 10, who_ through a totally random chance of fate_ arrived at the same time. "Hey look who it is!" yelled Kiba.

"KIBA-BAKA, be quiet and talk about Sasuke-kun with more respect." screeched the pink haired banshee known as Sakura.

"Who the hell said I was talking about that Emo, I was talking about Hinata and Naruto." retorted Kiba.

"Don't call Sasuke-kun an Emo!" was the reply from the two members of the 'I love Sasuke club'. Everybody within hearing range sweat dropped at the incident unravelling before them.

"Anyway, how is everybody?" asked Naruto.

"How we're doing, shouldn't I ask you? You did go to see my mom after all." Kiba said, giving a small feral grin.

"Now why do you say that, your mom and I actually hit it off pretty _well._" Naruto replied, a small grin on his face. He knew exactly how his wording made the situation sound.

"Ah god damit man, why did you have to do that? Now I've got the image of you and my mom in my head and it makes me want to puke!" yelled an annoyed Kiba.

"I have no Idea what you mean Kiba. So who's everybody training with today and what's the schedule?" asked Naruto.

Kurenai, Team 8's sensei was the first to answer. "Well, I have Team 8 with me today, Team Gai tomorrow, free Wednesday, Team 10 Thursday and your Team Friday. I'm Yuhi Kurenai by the way; feel free to call me Kurenai-sensei."

"Well, the name's Asuma, I've got my Team today, free tomorrow, you Wednesday, 8 Thursday and Gai's squad on Friday." answered Team 10's chain smoking sensei.

"Ok then, so we've got Kakashi today, Asuma Wednesday and Kurenai Friday. That means the Gai will be either tomorrow or Thursday and Anko the other." Naruto recapped to his team-mates, who nodded a reply.

Kurenai raised an eyebrow at something Naruto said while talking. "Naruto, why did you refer to us Jonin by our first name and not even calling us sensei? Do you realise that it's highly offensive not to show respect to your superiors." said the red eyed Jonin.

"Firstly, I will call someone sensei when I feel they have made an effort to teach me, not before. Secondly, respect is earned not given," Naruto turned to face the balcony of the Hokage Tower, "Isn't that right Kakashi?" Naruto shouted into thin air.

Everybody turned their attention towards the balcony Naruto had shouted at. It was suddenly enveloped in smoke which quickly disappeared to reveal an eye smiling Kakashi. "If you say so Naruto, anyway, let's go. We don't want to be late for your first mission now would we?" As soon as Kakashi finished, he was pinned to the wall by Asuma holding a trench knife to his neck.

"Alright who are you and what have you done with Hatake Kakashi?" demanded Asuma.

"Oh haha Asuma, 'that can't be Kakashi, he isn't late'" mocked Kakashi.

"Yep, that defiantly proves that he's Kakashi." Asuma said as he backed away to reveal a kunai aimed at his chest by Kakashi.

"Now that that's over with, Team 7, follow me inside, we should try to get the best mission possible.

* * *

(Random street in Konoha)

Kakashi's Team had already been to see what missions were available for them at the Hokage Tower and they were currently in the midst of said mission. Naruto, being a very perceptive person new that the mission they will be doing for a while won't be the most exciting. But Sasuke and Hinata were in for a total surprise. D-Rank missions were the bane of most ninja's existence; they were the everyday chores that civilians were too old, weak or plain too lazy to do themselves. Team 7's first mission was to capture and return a runaway cat by the name of Tora which belonged to the wife of the Fire Daimyo.

The cat in question could be found making its way down a random street in Konoha. Unknown to the cat, it was being watched by four shinobi.

"_This is Hinata, the target is in my line of sight, I am directly west_. _Over._" came the voice of Hinata through the radio communicator.

"_This is Sasuke, I can also see the target, and I am directly north. Over." _came Sasuke's voice.

"_This is Naruto, as you can probably guess I can see the damned cat to. I'm directly south, Kakashi, if you can make your way to the target's east, just in case it tries to escape over the wall then we'll make our move. Over."_ this time it was Naruto's slightly annoyed voice.

"_This is Kakashi; I have made my way directly east, you may proceed. Over._" Kakashi told his students.

"_This is Sasuke, on the count of three, we'll make our move. One, Two … Three!"_

As soon as the countdown was finished, three black blurs cam out from hiding and headed straight toward the unsuspecting cat. The fist figure to come into the cat's view was Sasuke, the cat turned, only to be blocked by Naruto. The cat was about to make a move to run but found that it couldn't move due to two hands at its side. The hands belonged to Hinata and they were being fiercely scratched at.

"Hinata, pass it over to me. It'll keep trying to hurt you to get away." Naruto told the Hyuuga heiress. As Hinata passed the cat over to Naruto, he laced his hands with chakra. The chakra would reinforce his skin and would also act as a pain-killer would make his hands better equip to handle the one they called 'The Demon Cat'.

"Alright, let's take the cat back to its owner and get paid for it." Kakashi told his Genin.

* * *

(Training ground Three)

After returning Tora to its owner and getting paid for the mission, Team 7 headed back to their unofficial training ground for training.

"Alright, listen up, today we will be working on your team-work and I'll show you a ninjutsu that I want you to learn. Now let's get to it." Kakashi told his team.

The Team spent half of the afternoon doing some team building and trust exercises and also going over tactics for different scenarios which used all of the Genin's strong points. Now though, it was time for the team to learn a ninjutsu, much to everyone's delight. "Alright, the jutsu I want you to learn is a very common one, but is very useful. This jutsu only Sasuke and Hinata will learn because Naruto already knows it." Kakashi turned to Sasuke and Hinata. "I will explain how to do this technique and the two of you will start to practise it with my personal help." Kakashi turned to Naruto. "Naruto, I will test you on your usage of the jutsu, if I feel it is up to my standard, I will teach you another jutsu. This will be done with one of my Kage Bunshin." Kakashi formed a cross seal with the index and middle finger of both hands and formed Kage Bunshin which walked off with Naruto.

"Ok, so the jutsu I want you two to learn is the **Shunshin no Jutsu **(Body Flicker Jutsu). It was the jutsu Naruto used to bring both of you to the roof on the first day we met, and also the one you usually see me arriving with. People see the jutsu as a teleportation like the Kawarimi, but it isn't. This jutsu uses chakra to temporarily vitalise the body and move at extreme speed. The amount of chakra needed depends on the distance you want to travel. A puff of smoke is some times used to disguise the user's movements, but that's only the basic. You can use virtually anything; you can even make your own Shunshin. Naruto has an orange lightning bolt, and the most famous Shunshin user was Uchiha Shisui, known as Shunshin Shisui which made his figure fade out of existence."

(With Naruto)

"Alright Naruto, I'm going to test your use of the Shunshin, if I think its good enough I'll teach you something. Now I want you to use Shunshin to appear where the others are and then back. Any questions?" asked Kakashi.

"Nope." Naruto put his hands in the ram seal and disappeared in a bolt of orange lightning.

(With the others)

Naruto appeared right next to the real Kakashi in a bolt of orange lightning.

"Ah Naruto, thanks for the demonstration" Kakashi said, while giving an eye smile.

Naruto just smiled back and disappeared once again.

"As you can see you move almost instantaneously to the other position, now the way you do this is to pump your chakra into your muscles and brain. The chakra in your brain will increase the reaction in your synapses which will temporarily increase your speed to an astonishing rate. Now get going."

(With Naruto)

"Well done Naruto, I'm very impressed with your ability with Shunshin so I will tech you a jutsu. Do you know the **Kanashibari no Jutsu **(Temporary paralysis jutsu)?" asked the silver haired jonin.

"No I don't Kakashi." answered Naruto.

"Ok then. As the name suggests, the jutsu paralyses another person/animal for a set period of time, depending on the amount of chakra used. Now, the way you do the technique is you need to send some of your chakra into the target's spinal cord where the main nerves are located. Your chakra will freeze the nerves for a set period depending on the amount of chakra used. The connection is done by touch, but if a person is skilled enough, it could be done through sight. I want you to create a Kage Bunshin and practise the jutsu on it; I will try to help you by giving you pointers. Once you feel you're able to do the jutsu effectively, use it on me and I'll tell you whether or not it's ready. If we reach that part, I want you to practise using it in battle with a Kage Bunshin. Understand?"

Naruto nodded and started practising the jutsu.

After two hours, Naruto was able to effectively use the technique on the Kakashi clone. When Kakashi told him to practise it in combat, he created 20 Kage Bunshin and had them do it.

"Kakashi-sensei, I was wondering if I could ask you for two favours?" asked a slightly nervous Kakashi.

"Sure Naruto, ask away, but I can't promise anything … and thanks for calling me sensei." answered Kakashi.

"No problem, I said as soon as you make an effort to teach me I would. Anyway, my first request is, for every jutsu you teach me, I would like to have scroll on it. I want to make sure that if I have a family, I'll be able to look after them and help them like a proper parent." requested Naruto.

Kakashi slightly winced at the parent comment. He understood Naruto's side of the affairs, but he was also loyal to his sensei … and Naruto's father. "Of course I can do that Naruto. I understand because I became an orphan myself when I was when I was six. I don't really want to explain what happened but I understand you." Kakashi said.

"Thank you Kakashi-sensei. My other request is, when I'm training, can I please send some Kage Bunshin to complete more missions. Almost all store owners over charge me and my rent is ridiculous. I use a henge to try and get around the second one, but it isn't always possible. It's all because of _it_." Kakashi gasped slightly, "Yes I do know about it, anyway, I need a way of earning more money, and so can I please complete more missions with Kage Bunshin while I train?"

Kakashi really felt for the boy in front of him. He was badly mistreated and was emotionally scarred. Everything that the villagers held against him was totally out of his hands and he still suffered for it. "I will have a word with the Hokage and see what I can do. The problem is Naruto; I'm not sure how many people will allow you to do their missions because of _it. _I'll see what I can do to figure this out and I'll let you know tomorrow. Why don't you meet me earlier tomorrow at the Hokage Tower to figure this out?" Kakashi offered.

"Yeah thanks Kakashi-sensei." Naruto said while giving his trademark foxy grin.

(With the others)

Sasuke and Hinata had made good progress with the Shunshin. They were getting really close to completing the jutsu. Both were about to take one more try, but were stopped by Kakashi. "Stop, you're both getting low on chakra, unless you're confident you'll succeed this time don't do it."

Sasuke was defiantly going to try again, and Hinata really wanted to prove that she was capable to. "Hey guys, I've got some tips for you." came the voice of Naruto.

The two clan heirs turned to face Naruto. "Alright, Sasuke, your focusing to much on the actual running. Concentrate a little more on the chakra in your brain and you should do it since you've been using slightly to much chakra there. Hinata, concentrate more on the muscles in your legs, you need to add slight more chakra. Good luck guys." said Naruto.

Both Genin took the advice and tried the jutsu once again, which they both succeeded. Both were very happy and grateful to Naruto. "Thanks" was Sasuke's reply. "Thank you Naruto-kun." received from Hinata.

"No problem guys, hey why don't you all come get some ramen with me, you too Kakashi-sensei." Naruto offered his team.

"Yeah I'll come." was Kakashi's answer.

"You just called Kakashi-sensei 'sensei'. I'm coming to hear that story and what you learnt." came from the not as arrogant but still smug Uchiha.

"I would love to Naruto-kun."

"Then it's settled, Team 7 to Ichiraku Ramen!" yelled and excited Naruto.

* * *

**Thanks for reading :)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for the late update. I've decided to do weekly updates rather than when I can, it's less pressure for me and less confusing for you. Most likely it will be every Monday/Tuesday (British time). Well hope you enjoy and as always R&R.**

Chapter 8: Taijutsu and Bukijutsu.

* * *

(Training ground 9, Tuesday)

Team 7 could currently be found at training ground 9. The training ground was simply, a field. It was surrounded by thick trees on all sides and had several well beaten training dummies. They had just done their D-Rank mission for the day, which was weeding a lawn, and were now waiting for their sensei for the day, Maito Gai. Kakashi had told them that Gai was a very … unique character. He was difficult to take seriously, but his Taijutsu skills couldn't be bested by anyone in the village. He was a Jonin of Kakashi's calibre, specialised in Taijutsu, and was the self proclaimed _Konoha's Sublime Green Beast_.

In the training ground, all three members of Team 7 were separately practising various shinobi arts. Sasuke was training his Shunshin no Jutsu to have a further range and react quicker to it. Hinata was training her Byakugan and evasion skills with the help of Naruto's Kage Bunshin. She was standing in the middle of a ring of Naruto's', dodging kunai from each direction. The original Naruto however, was sitting and leaning against a tree while reading about, and practising fuinjutsu. He was currently trying to freestyle and create seals to fit his imagination, which right now he was trying to make a seal that would self repair objects, as well as cleaning them. This would be very useful in future missions to keep clothes clean and safe to use without the wasted time. He was carefully paying close attention to his brush strokes, every detail had to be perfect other wise the results could be very … different. He was about to finish his last few brush strokes, when he heard a cry of "Dynamic Entry!", followed by a blur of green, and a kick to the jaw.

"Aw, what the hell?! I was just about to finish that seal as well and now it's ruined." Naruto whined as he noticed the spilt inc all on the seal. Naruto turned around to face his attacker. "Oi, who the hell do you think you are, I spent a lot of time thinking about that. You better apologise… right … now." Naruto's yelling died down as he took in the sight in front of him. There was a very muscular mid-twenty year old man … wearing a tight green spandex jumpsuit and orange leg warmers that put his own jumpsuit to shame. But that wasn't what caught Naruto's attention though, no what caught his attention was. "DUDE! Why the hell do you have caterpillars on your head!?"

"Your attitude is slightly un-youthful young one, although that energy you seem to have is most youthful. I believe that with hard work we will be able to work on that! Now I will introduce myself and I want you to then follow my lead! Alright here we go. I am the man they call _Konoha's Sublime Green Beast_, the Taijutsu master of Konoha, Maito Gai." Said Gai while striking a half tiger half dancer pose.

"Ok then … well my name is Uzumaki Naruto, future Hokage of Konoha." Naruto said with his foxy grin, but also winking at his team-mates, telling them to play along.

"Hn, I'm Uchiha Sasuke, the last Uchiha in Konoha." said Sasuke.

"Ano … I'm Hyuuga Hinata, I am the cousin of one of your students, Hyuuga N-neji."

"Well all of you seem youthful enough for me to work with. I will be in charge of your physical conditioning and Taijutsu training. Now, I would like to know what your daily physical training routine is." asked the enthusiastic spandex suit.

Sasuke was the first to answer, "My routine is 50 push-ups, sit-ups and crunches, 25 punches for each arm and 30 kicks for each leg. I also run 10 laps around my compound."

"Um my r-routine is usually 30 push-ups, sit-ups and crunches, 40 punches for each arm and 15 kicks for each leg. I also work on my flexibility by starching because my b-body is naturally f-flexible." was Hinata's answer.

"Um, Gai." Naruto said to catch Gai's attention. "Can I tell you my training routine in private please? Not that I don't trust my team-mates, it's just that if they know how I train, they'll try to do it to. But the way I train is too dangerous for anyone other than me." This statement received a curious glance from Sasuke, awe from Hinata and … seriousness? from Gai.

Naruto and Gai walked off into the forest, guarded by Naruto Kage Bunshin in-case of a curious Uchiha. Five minutes later, Sasuke and Hinata heard cries of "YOUTH!" from the forest.

* * *

After returning from the forest with Naruto, Gai set out training Team 7. First he asked them to demonstrate their Taijutsu skills with a one on one Taijutsu only spar with him. During the spars Gai carefully analysed the Genin's movement, style and positioning as well as their strength, speed and flexibility.

Sasuke fought using his clan's Taijutsu style, **Han'nōken **(reaction fist), which needed the Sharingan to be most effective since it relied on reading your opponent's movement and reacting to it. He was fairly proficient in the style for a Genin, but he would struggle a lot against a suspecting mid to high level Chuunin. Gai's tip for the last Uchiha was to practise his evasion and reaction skills as much as possible, and put a lot of his effort in the training session with Mitarashi Anko.

Hinata also used her family style, the Juuken. It showed in her movement that she worked very hard on her Taijutsu, but it was also obvious that something wasn't right either. It was like watching a dog swim, they could do it effectively, but it looked very uncomfortable. Gai's advice for the young heiress was to ask her father if he knew of anyone who had the same problem in the clan, and if so, how did they rise above it. He also asked her to learn what her elemental affinity is by the next session, something she would probably learn from either Asuma of Kakashi.

Naruto used a style that almost literally blew Gai away. Naruto's style, if you could call it that, was in the simplest way, confusing. It seemed as if all the movements were awkward and out of place if you tried them on their own, but when Naruto used them, it was like watching a dance. Smooth, precise and powerful. His first stance seemed like the simple academy style, common in children with non shinobi backgrounds. But as soon as the first hit came, it changed. When Gai went for a kick to the mid-section, the movement became more similar to the Inuzuka's Juujin Taijutsu. When Naruto went for a jab to the neck, it looked like the Juuken. When he swept low he looked like the Nara's **Kageken **(shadow fist). To Gai, it was almost as if the boy had brought notoriously different styles together into one. Every style covered another's weakness. But that would be impossible, the boy was only twelve, even with his Kage Bunshin method it contained a large number of different clan hidden that he simply shouldn't be allowed to know. 'If this style evolves correctly and is used correctly, it will be near unstoppable.' thought Gai.

"Naruto-kun, what is the name of that style you're using? I have seen, faced and used many in my time, but that one I have never come across and seems very powerful." asked a very curious Gai.

"Well Gai, that would be something of my own creation. When I started at the academy, their style just didn't feel right to me, kind of like how Hinata feels. Well I went to the library to research different styles, but they never seemed right as a whole, only some aspects. That's where I got the idea that, if I got everything that felt comfortable to me into one style, it would be my perfect style. I call it the **Konseiken **(Mixed fist) since it's a mixture of a lot. And when I say a lot, I mean a LOT." explained Naruto.

"Naruto-kun, your flames of youth burn brightly. Your way of solving a problem is inspiring." said Gai in his hyperactive mode. Suddenly Gai turned totally serious … which scared the hell out of everybody. "I do have some advice for you though Naruto. If you do use _that _way to train, you don't have that much experience against different styles. I would like you stay around after every training session today so you can test your style against different ones. It will allow you to see the weakness of your style so you can evolve it further. After today, that is how you will train your Taijutsu during our training sessions, I will also help you with that seal you asked for."

"Thank you Gai … sensei." Naruto said with his foxy smirk.

"YOUTH!"

* * *

(Training ground 10, Wednesday)

Like the day before, Team 7 had gone straight from mission to their sensei for the day. All members had taken their advice from Gai and practised it. Naruto's session with Gai had been brutal, but also very effective. He had notice some weaknesses in his style, which he proceeded to fill in and Gai also offering some advice on that part. Sasuke had set up a circuit in his compound to which would test his evasion by firing rubber balls from various directions totally random, then when comfortable, changing to kunai. Hinata had asked her father like Gai had asked her to do. Her father's answer was "any member of the Hyuuga who hadn't mastered the Juuken is considered a failure.". Not very reassuring for the young heiress.

Sarutobi Asuma was their sensei for today, known for being the Sandaime's grandson and for his time serving under the Daimyo with the Guardian shinobi twelve. He was a very skilled Bukijutsu user with his chakra blade trench knives and also a very rare wind element user.

"Sup." said Asuma as he reached his training ground where Team 7 was waiting for him.

"Hey Asuma, how are you?" asked Naruto.

"Meh you know. We should probably get ready to train instead of fight eh?" asked Asuma.

"Ano … Asuma-sensei, could it be possible for you to tell me my affinity before we start? Gai-sensei asked me to find out for our next training session." asked Hinata, whose confidence had been rising in leaps and bounds lately.

"Yeah sure. I was planning on doing that anyway so it works out." Asuma walked over towards the three Genin while pulling three pieces of paper from his pocket. "Alright, these are chakra papers. They come from trees that have been fed chakra from a young age. Now when somebody pushes their chakra into these, it will react to the chakra showing your nature. There are five natures: Fire, Water, Wind, Earth and lightning. Now it doesn't mean that you can only learn jutsu from your affinity, it just means that it's a lot easier if the jutsu matches your affinity. You can also train your chakra to become another nature as well. Now I want all of you to push your chakra into the paper to see what affinity you have, I'll demonstrate." Asuma said. He pushed chakra into paper, which then split in two and then slowly ignited and turned to ash. "The paper split in tow, showing a wind affinity. When it ignited it showed fire, which I trained myself to know. If you have Earth, it will turn to dirt and crumble away, Water will soak the paper and lightning will wrinkle the paper. Any questions?"

"How much chakra should we put into the paper?" asked Sasuke.

"Either until I tell you to stop or when I hit you on top of your head."

"…"

"It was a joke … Jesus."

Sasuke was the first to go, he channelled chakra into the paper, which wrinkled and then ignited, showing a nature for both lightning and fire. Asuma showed Sasuke the first step to controlling his affinities. For fire, he was meat to grab a pot of water, and then heat it up with chakra; it's mastered when the water starts to boil in 10 seconds. For lightning, he had to create a channel of electricity between his hands, mastered when the channel can be held for 10 seconds, 2 feet apart.

Hinata's paper became wet, indicating water. Her exercise was to pour water on her hand, holding it and moving it up and down her arm, mastered when done in 10 seconds.

When Naruto's turn came, he had a slightly evil smirk on his face. "You're going to love this Asuma." he stated. Naruto's paper split in two, one half wrinkled and the other turned to dirt then crumbled, indicating Wind, Lightning and Earth.

"Oh my god." was Asuma's only reply.

"Oh and by the way, I can split a leaf, and I can create the channel of electricity. I couldn't find anything on the earth exercise though." stated Naruto.

"You … you already know those… what the hell are you?" Asuma mumble to himself. He shook himself out of his shock to carry on. "Well, if that's the case, for earth you need to be able to turn dirt into rock with your chakra, and then back. Guess how long it should take you for when you master it. The second lightning exercise is channel the chakra through your body to increase your speed, mastered when you are five times faster than your normal pace. With Wind, and this is the real kicker, you need to split a … waterfall." Naruto did something nobody excepted to do, he fainted. "Ahahaha that was brilliant!" laughed a hysterical Asuma.

After Naruto came back to the land of the living, Asuma asked who had experience in Bukijutsu. Sasuke was quite talented with Shurikenjutsu, as were his clan. Hinata didn't have any experience except for kunai and skuriken usage. Naruto was like a male version of Tenten. His weapons repertoire was shocking. He was able to use a bo-staff, a katana, a jute, senbon, bow and arrow and so much more.

"Wow … well my old man is a Bojutsu user so I can ask him for tips, there's a Jonin that is a big Kenjutsu user so he can help. The bow I have no clue. Shurikenjutsu I'll see what I can dig up. Now Hinata, since you don't have a weapon yet, do you mind if I chose for you. I'll be able to make a better choice than you can no offence or anything. Any questions from anyone?" Asuma asked. When nobody answered he said, "Well let's try your elemental manipulation.

* * *

**R&R :)**


	9. Chapter 9

**As stated in one of the reviews I accidentally called Asuma the grandson of the Sandaime when he is the son. I apologise for that, hope you all forgive me (flutters eyelashes). Anyway R&R people. Oh and by the way I have received over 150 favourites and over 220 follows. I never thought I would have gotten anything remotely close to that, thank you all for your support.**

**I would also like to apologise for the late update, so as an apology I have written my longest chapter by over 1000 words, hope you like :)**

Chapter 9: Genjutsu and … wholly mother of …

* * *

(Training ground 43, Thursday)

It had just passed midday in the peaceful village of Konoha. Team 7 were taking a brief moment to relax after completing their mission for the day and waiting for their sensei for the day … that is until one Mitarashi Anko arrived.

Naruto had some of his clones helping Sasuke improve his reaction by throwing rubber balls at him to improve his reaction like Gai had asked. Hinata was practising her water manipulation. Currently she could hold the water and move it up to her forearm before loosing control, which was a remarkable achievement. Naruto was once again working on his self repair and cleaning seal.

As Naruto was about to finish the seal, a kunai flew through the air and ripped the seal in half. Naruto just stared at the ruined seal for a couple of minutes until … "Aw come on! What is it with people and ruining my seals just when I'm about to finish them! Whoever did that better apologise right now!" Naruto yelled.

After Naruto finished his rant, a figure dropped from one of the trees surrounding their training ground. The figure landed in a crouching position all the Genin could see was dark purple hair and a beige trench coat. After the figure stood up … they could basically see the same thing. The figure wore a beige trench coat over a mesh body suite, only just covering half of the figure's chest, proving that the figure was indeed female. The woman wore an orange mini skirt connected to a blue belt. She wore a pendant of what looked like a snake fang on a thick cord around her neck and her Hitai-ate was almost completely hidden under her violet hair. "Why the hell should I apologise to a brat like you anyway, that seal would probably blow up in your face anyway. Just out of curiosity, what was it meant to do anyway?" asked a slightly intrigued Anko.

"Well it was meant to repair any damage in objects as well as clean them when applied, it would be useful during long term mission to make your weapons or clothing more durable, but also wouldn't need to find a river to wash your clothes in or worry about somebody walking in on you washing your clothes, including whatever you're wearing at that moment." explained Naruto. The statement caused Anko to blush slightly, Hinata to blush even more since she was blushing ever since she saw Anko's attire and Sasuke, well to give a slightly less Emo reaction.

"Um, ok then, well why don't we introduce ourselves then gakis? My name is Mitarashi Anko, your sensei for stealth, tracking and trap making. I enjoy interrogating and playing with my snakes. I don't like whinny gakis and people who talk about things they will never understand. Alright now you guys go, start off with duck but over there." Anko said, indicating Sasuke.

"I'm Uchiha Sasuke; I enjoy training and for some reason spending time with these two." This caused Naruto and Hinata to comically gawk at Sasuke. "What? Anyway, I dislike traitors and annoying fan-girls. My goal is to revive the Uchiha clan and gain its justice."

"Hm, interesting. You seem to have the eyes of an assassin." This caused Sasuke to smirk. "This at your age isn't a good sign. It usually means the person is either driven by revenge or emotionally disturbed occasionally both. I want to 'talk' to you after this training session is over. Now blushy go."

"Ano, my name is Hyuuga Hinata. I enjoy training with my team mates and gardening. I dislike bullies and the way my clan currently operates. My goal is to change the way of my clan when I become the head."

"You don't seem very confident in your abilities. I'm going to enjoy breaking that habit from you, almost as much as I will that blonde girl from Team 10." all of the Genin sweat dropped at their sensei's behaviour. "Well then last … and looks like least, whinny sealy go."

"My name is Uzumaki Naruto. I also enjoy training, even if it is with teme over there. I dislike people who judge others on something they had no control over and people who make fun of my height. My goal is to become the best Hokage this village has ever seen."

"A very very opportunistic goal indeed, I'll believe it when I see it though and even then I'll be pinching myself and checking for signs of concussion. Now that that's over with, we are going to play a little game of hide and seek. I will go hide in the forest over there (not the forest of death … yet), all you have to do is find me. But I should warn you that I have filled the area with traps and I won't stay still either. Well good luck." and with that Anko dissolved into several snakes, indicating a personal Shunshin.

The three members of Team 7 huddled together to form a plan. "Alright this seems a lot like Kakashi-sensei's bell test, so I believe that we should stick together and work as a team, agreed?" asked Sasuke.

"I agree, I have an idea for our formation though. I have a very good sense of smell, like Inuzuka's do. Don't ask me how but I do. I also have experience with traps with my pranking days and other … experiences. Anyway, I think I should be at the front for those reasons. Hinata has her Byakugan which will allow her very wide vision, so if we do get attacked from the back by a timed trap or Anko herself, she'll notice it. So I believe Hinata should be at the back. Sasuke, you have the least experience with traps, it's not an insult because you're probably better than any of the other from our class. For that reason, I think you should be in the middle, it will allow you the longest time to react and also warn everybody in case I miss a trap. Everybody ok with that?" Naruto asked. Both Genin nodded and then they started off into the woods.

They took the ground root because Sasuke and Hinata hadn't had the tree climbing exercise yet to make tree hoping effective enough. After a couple of minutes walking, Naruto brought them to a halt just before a clearing. "This would be a perfect spot for her to set up an ambush to warn her of our location. Hinata, try to scan the area for anything that can be linked to a trap of some sorts." Hinata complied with the order and found several traps set up in the clearing. A pitfall… snake style, a swinging log, kunai and shuriken launcher and a couple of exploding tags. They decided to go around the clearing and dismantle the kunai and shuriken launcher to store up on equipment, Naruto's idea mainly.

Team 7 kept searching for the sadistic purple haired woman, without catching her. They had been able to discover and avoid or dismantle many traps along their way, and Naruto gained a lot of new equipment for his collection. They had also run into many, many traps. They all varied from attacking snakes, dodging kunai and shuriken, avoiding poison clouds, climbing out of holes and ultimately getting back up to do it all again.

They were now back in the clearing they began and where they first met Anko, after the three hour mark, Anko reviled her location to get to know what her subj… I mean students needed working on. "Alright maggots, it's recap time. Individually tell me what you struggled with the most, and what you would like for me to work with you. Duck but, go." stated a grinning Anko.

"Hn, I struggled with trap detecting and tracking the most, so I feel that I should brush up on those, but I would like to concentrate on stealth the most because, my two team mates here both have special skills to do with tracking so they won't need to rely too much on me for that side. Also stealth would be a lot more beneficial for my fighting style.

"Interesting. Alright I will help you improve with trap detecting and tracking but will concentrate the most on stealth. Now blushy, go."

"Ano, my Byakugan helped me a lot with detecting traps since I was able to see through things. I don't think I need you to help me improve that aspect much because I will be training my Byakugan with my clan fir these types of circumstances. It's similar with tracking, although I would like to be able to track without the use of my Byakugan to make my Byakugan even more effective when I use it. Stealth I probably need work with as well, but I would like to focus more on tracking.

"Your wish will be granted."Anko said as she henged into a genie like character. "Ok whinny sealy, go."

"I am fairly confident in trap detecting due to my pranking days, I'm also confident in trap making, but I would like to learn more on that aspect. With tracking, I have a heightened sense of smell like the Inuzuka, but I haven't trained it well enough to use effectively. Stealth, I was able to hide from ANBU after some of my pranks so I think I'm good right now, but working on it won't hurt. So if possible, I'd like to work on everything, but focus on trap making."

"Alright then. The way will do it is, we will be practising various arts every week, maybe three different types every lesson and then our hide and seek game. When we get to an art that one of you have asked to be focused on, I will give them the higher percentage of attention, but I won't leave the others alone. For example during stealth training, Sasuke will be my main concern, but I will help you two as well. Does anybody have any questions? If you do we tuff, you should have been listening more because I told you everything you need to know. You are now all free to leave." Anko told her subj, damit, students, which caused their eyes to gleam with happiness.

As the three Genin started to walk away, they were stopped dead in their tracks by the voice of the snake mistress. "Hey, duck but. You didn't forget about our little play date after the training did you?" Anko asked sweetly with a sadistic smile on her face.

"We'll see you tomorrow Sasuke. If you survive that is." And with that both Naruto and Hinata ran as fast as they could to get away from the crazy sadistic bi… I mean left the training ground.

* * *

(Training ground 8, Friday)

Today was the day that Team 7 would meet the last of their sensei, even though they had already met Yuhi Kurenai once, this was their first official meeting.

Just like all the other meeting, every member of Team 7 was brushing up on some skills before their training for the day started. Sasuke was training his reflexes with the help of Naruto's clones. Currently Sasuke was facing three clones and got hit occasionally, after he was able to dodge the three clones' rubber balls for 10 minutes he would get another clone and repeat the process. Hinata was still practising her water manipulation. She still only able to teach her elbow, but the time it took was decreasing fairly quickly.

Naruto, well he was still trying to complete his seal, although this time much more nervously. He would occasionally stop, look around and carry on working every thirty seconds or so. The final three brush strokes were very very near, which made him very very nervous. He was on total awareness, making sure nothing would hinder the seal in any way, then suddenly … "YES! I did it and this time it wasn't destroyed. WAHOO!". Yep, he actually finished it. The only thing left to do now was to test it, which he would leave until later that night.

It only took a couple more minutes for their sensei to arrive. One thing you could tell straight away by looking at her was that she was… a lot more modest than Anko. She wore a red mesh shirt, with a red sleeve on the right arm and non on the left. Over the mesh she wore a dress that seemed to resemble bandages with a thorn like pattern on it. Her hands and forearms as well as her thighs were bandaged. She had shoulder length untamed hair as well as blood red lips and eyes which seemed to resemble the Uchiha's Sharingan. "Hello again Team 7, I hope that you all remember me." stated Kurenai.

"Hello Kurenai-sensei" responded a polite Hinata.

"Yeah, hey Kurenai." was Naruto's response.

"Still with that, 'I'll call you sensei once you teach me something' attitude Uzumaki."

"Of course, Yuhi." Naruto answered rather coldly

"Well anyway, we should probably get our introductions out of the way. I'm Yuhi Kurenai. I enjoy being a Genjutsu expert and learning new Genjutsu. I dislike perverts and disrespectful young brats-" before Kurenai could finish, Naruto cut across.

"That statement is highly offensive and disrespectful to me Kurenai. Haven't you ever heard of the expression 'Treat others like you want to be treated'?"

"Anyway as I was saying, my goal was to become the Konoha's main Genjutsu expert, which I am. So now my goal is to serve Konoha to the best of my abilities and continue to grow stronger."

(Sasuke, Hinata and Naruto introductions, you all know how they go by now.)

"Now that that's over with. Firstly, I know you had a Genjutsu dispersion test during the academy, so can you please tell me what your scores for that test was?" asked Kurenai.

The students explained how Sasuke got 26 out of thirty, 70% efficient, Hinata got 27 out of thirty with 80% efficiency and Naruto got a full 30 with almost 90% efficiency.

"Wow, that's very good chakra control you have there Naruto." stated Kurenai.

"Actually no it isn't Kurenai." This received a very confused look from Kurenai. "My dispelling is very efficient because I am able to keep most chakra from leaving my body, which isn't really down to my control although the higher my control the easier it is. No my chakra control is the worst out of all the graduates this year and always will be, no matter how hard I work. I will never be able to be a medic-nin, should I chose to be, and will not be able to cast the highest level Genjutsu no matter how hard I work. The reason for this is because my reserves are constantly growing, which means as my reserves grow my control weakens. For example my control if probably around 60% right now, If I don't work on control, by the end of the week I'll be down to 58%. That is the reason why I will never be able to have near perfect chakra control because it will always decrease afterwards unless I'm constantly working on chakra control, and I'm telling you now, I will not be spending every waking minute working on chakra control." Naruto explained to his teacher, while giving her a 'don't press any further look' which granted him a knowingly nod from the genjutsu mistress.

"Ok then, well since that's done, I'll explain what and how I'll be teaching you. Since my speciality is Genjutsu, that is exactly what I'll teach you in. Along with Genjutsu I will also teach you chakra control which is vital for Genjutsu but also helpful with Ninjutsu. To teach you in chakra control I will be showing you techniques that are designed to improve your control and also at the same time increase your reserves. Within Genjutsu I will teach you how to cast Genjutsu in various ways, different techniques, multiple ways of dispelling Genjutsu and also Genjutsu recognition. To train Genjutsu recognition, I will place you under Genjutsu at random times during our training sessions. To begin they will be Genjutsu for hiding or changing something's appearance. At first they should be fairly easy to notice and will get harder as you go on and so will the techniques. Now, if you think you are under a Genjutsu, I want you to state what makes you think you are under a Genjutsu, attempt to dispel and see if you are correct. This will train your awareness and Genjutsu recognition. Every body understand?"

"Yes Kurenai/sensei." replied Naruto/Sasuke and Hinata.

"Alright the first thing I'm going to do is teach you tree climbing or other way known as tree walking. What you do is you focus a fixed amount of chakra to your feet and using that to basically walk up a vertical surface." Kurenai explained while walking up to a tree and proceeded to walk up the tree. "If you don't use enough chakra," Kurenai cut the flow of chakra from her feet which caused her to fall off the tree, "you loose grip and fall off, but if you use to much," Kurenai once again walked up the tree and this time pushed too much chakra which caused the bark around her feet to brake and pushed her of which caused her to fall off again and landing in a crouched position, "you'll be pushed off and the surface will receive damage. You need to find the right amount of chakra and be able to keep the flow steady and constant. It's best if you use a run up and keep running at the beginning, then slow it down until you can walk up from a stand still like I can. Now get to it." Kurenai explained/declared.

All three Genin made their way towards a tree for themselves. Sasuke was the first to start by running full blast at the tree and running up a good seven feet before being blown off, signalling too much chakra used. Hinata was second and was able to make it up seven and a half feet before slipping off, signalling not enough chakra. Naruto was last to go. He ran straight at the tree and then … stopped right in front of it. He then placed one foot on the tree and casually walked up with his hand in his pockets. He kept walking until he reached a sturdy enough branch and proceeded to walk along the bottom of the branch while upside down. He then turned back to face the other two Genin and Jonin. "Is this good enough Kurenai?" Naruto asked with a sheepish grin.

"You already knew how to do it didn't you?" asked Kurenai with a deadpan expression on her face.

"Yep, so what now then, do I wait for my team-mates to get this down or do I try another practise?" asked Naruto as he dropped from his branch to land in a crouched position.

"I'll give you three options Naruto. You can either wait for Sasuke and Hinata to complete this practise and then move on with them. You can come with me, you can tell me what practises you can already do and I'll then show you the next step. Or you can come with me and I'll start practising your Genjutsu recognition. Your choice."

"Hmm, tuff one. Can I do a mixture of the three? I'll do the second option first to find out what the next practise is and I'll practise that on my own after lessons. I'll then start practising Genjutsu recognition with you at the same time; I'll leave a Kage Bunshin with these guys in case they need some pointers. Do you know how to do Kage Bunshin?"

"Yes I do Naruto. All Jonin are given a copy of the jutsu to learn along with others. But I'm not proficient in using it due to my naturally small reserves that gave me the natural control for Genjutsu. Why do you ask?" asked a slightly intrigued Kurenai.

"I just wanted to know so you could either send me of with one or leave one here so it didn't look like you're showing favouritism with me or something." explained Naruto.

Kurenai was shocked by the statement. She never thought how that might look from other's point of view. This was a dilemma for her. She turned to face Sasuke and Hinata. "From what I can see, Naruto has mastered tree walking. Am I right?" Kurenai asked turning back to face Naruto, receiving a nod in return. She turned to face her other students again. "He is just as qualified as me to teach you this technique and should be able to help you just as well. I want an honest answer from you both. None of us will think any less of you if you say no to my question. Would you feel alright letting Naruto answer any questions you have regarding this technique while I teach him some other stuff?" Kurenai asked, feeling very guilty asking such a thing of her students.

"As long as the dobe doesn't try to mess with us if he's teaching us then I'm fine with it." stated Sasuke.

"I am also fine with that arrangement sensei."

"Okay then. Naruto do you promise to teach them properly and not mess with them?" asked Kurenai and once again received a nod. "Alright, if you need any help ask Naruto's Kage Bunshin, if he can't answer it, he can come find me and I'll tell him the answer. Now let's get to work."

By the end of the day, Hinata had made it up to three quarters of the tree and Sasuke wasn't to far behind. Naruto had explained that he was able to walk on water as well, which lead to Kurenai explaining the next test which was a variant of the leaf concentration exercise. He was meant to balance a kunai on his forehead, the higher mass and awkward balance made the exercise much more difficult than the leaf version. Naruto then spent the rest of the time recognising and dispelling Genjutsu after Genjutsu.

At the end of the day, as the students left training ground 8 and Kurenai, Naruto turned around and yelled back, "Thanks for the lesson Kurenai-sensei."

This caused Kurenai to blush slightly and couldn't help but grin.

* * *

**R&R**


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